Farheen Hussain, Senior Consultant at Future Experts Kindergarten, sheds light on the importance of acceptance and medical treatment for special needs children
It’s not easy for a parent to accept that his or her child has a disorder or is a special needs child. But the sooner you accept it, the better it is for the child as well as the parents. Only then can you begin their training and medication, and allow them to achieve their full potential. If you don’t accept the problem, the child may get through kindergarten or grade 1, but then what? The child will struggle for the rest of his life…
Acceptance is step number one, and medical treatment/training is the second step. In my years of experience with special needs children, I’ve seen the difference in personalities when parents accept the problem and when they turn a blind eye to it. *Faysal and *Sonia are two cases I remember vividly.
Faysal (KG 2) was mildly autistic. He was extremely sharp – he could finish any task in half the time as compared to a normal child. This is how autistic children are – they can multi-task, they are very alert and they are physically powerful. The most effective way to handle such kids is to keep them preoccupied and engaged – keep giving them one activity after the other because the minute they are free, it’s mayhem.
You may think they aren’t paying attention, but they are subconsciously listening to everything. Like other autistic children, Faysal also had the same behavioral patterns along with the possession of tremendous energy. Normal kids get exhausted after some time, but these kids don’t.
The unfortunate part was that Faysal’s mom had difficulty accepting his situation and this led to other issues. No matter what we were training him to do in school, he would do the opposite the next day when he’d be back. We spoke to the mother many times, but she refused to accept the problem.
Then there was Sonia – a 12-year-old Indian girl adopted by Spanish parents. When they came for admission, I saw a well-mannered, cultured little girl – I would’ve never thought at first glance that she was autistic. The parents had taken the time out to groom her – she was even more disciplined than a normal kid!
When I asked them about her autism, they told me they got medical treatment, took her for walks an hour a day (which is very important for autistic kids to release their inbuilt energy) and encouraged her a lot. Very few parents in my experience are able to take out time and money, and make such an investment in their child but they did.
She could also read and write four languages – English, French, Spanish and Hindi. I asked Sonia’s father why they taught her Hindi and he said that she was Indian by birth and she should know her language.
Sonia even used to write a diary – all her thoughts and activities were recorded by herself.
This is the difference when a child is given medical treatment and training versus when he isn’t. Sonia and Faysal are miles apart in their personalities and development despite having the same problem.
If parents can accept the problem and get their child the necessary help, they will only be making the child’s life easier…
There’s no such thing as ‘special needs children can’t do anything’ – they can do everything and just as well as any normal child. They just need a little extra attention. That’s why they’re special.
*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the subject.