CAN SHALL WILL
The triggering factor:
The lady doctor on duty, told the mother as she was examining the little baby, “Oh, she is an Idiot, why do you w ant to save her, let her die, she will be a big burden on your family”. Words…, never forgotten by the mother.
However, she was resolute and, committed herself to a cause that, from now on, conditions would only get better for I have the ability.
So, I CAN , I SHALL, I WILL.…make it happen. That’s when the journey of CAN SHALL WILL started.
CAN SHALL WILL, Is an ATTTIUDE of determination, of resolve, courage, and commitment to unlearn to learn and assist because … I CAN do it , I SHALL do it, I WILL do it. Mrs. Usha Rani Ahear, one of the earliest special educators who was the driving force behind this resolve. The founder principal of Sahan School. She transformed the lives of numerous parents and kids by providing sound, useful counsel when it was most needed.
Seema, my youngest sister, was a very healthy, plump baby who had a high fever and needed to be taken to the government dispensary. As she examined my sister, the on-call female doctor said to my mother, “Oh, she is an idiot, why do you want to save her, let her die, she will be a big burden on your family.” My mother, who was a homemaker at the time, just did not understand what she was discussing. She was surprised. She took my sister and hurried back home, crying as the tears streamed down her cheeks. After hearing what happened in the dispensary, our neighbor, who happened to be from a family of doctors, comforted my mother as she was standing outside her home.
Later, she was taken to child specialist, when for the 1st time she was diagnosed as a child with an extra chromosome and the condition is called “Down Syndrome”. Ms. Seema Ahear
A term my mother had heard during her pre-medical studies. She knew nothing more than that. It was a moment that hit my parents badly.
Even though she was upset, my mother and father accepted the challenge, and after that, there was no turning back and no crying—just more work made with common sense. In the field of special education there was hardly any assistance available back in 1967.
A series of challenges, began. I vividly recall one such moment, I was assigned a task to keep a watch over her as she was being taught to sit. My mother placed cushions around her neck to prevent her from falling forward and made her sit where the two walls meet in order to make her sit upright since she would roll over. Although, I was a child myself but, I had all my attention focused and not once did my eyes leave her. I felt proud that I did not let her fall. Soon, we all became a team along with numerous additional attempts to assist her with her ADLs ( activities of daily living ).
Along side, my mother joined professional courses to educate herself in the field of on Special Education. She took part in a Essay competition related with Special Children and won it. She received National award by the Vice – President of India.
As a child, I saw my youngest sibling, a Down Syndrome child, being raised and the only difference we felt was that she needed more time to do things that we could do in less time. She was praised and scolded the same way as any of us. It was my mothers foresight that brought this message across, Put Special Efforts, But Treat Her Normal And Have Patience. Special education or should I say SPECIAL EFFORTS TO EDUCATE IN LIFE SKILLS was carried out right in front of us under the guidance of my mother with an approach, full of innovation, patience, confidence and lots of laughter as funny things would happen. As children it was a lot of fun to be a part of the process while Seema learnt.
We were three sisters and were lucky to be part of camps organized some by my mother and other institutions where we went as volunteers to be of some assistance for special children with special abilities from the time we were in school. My mother would make it a point to guide us and discuss how and what we did in the camp each day. She would keep an eye too and so would her colleagues in order to ensure that our handling of children was as required. The 1st lesson of acceptance and meaning of patience came early to us. When we were asked to assist with a minor work, we were happiest and most proud, and we celebrated the little moments of fun. Since it was so much fun to make them do things when we were kids, their world was our world, which seemed completely normal, and we never considered being out of place.
What will people think about Seemu, or should we take her out with us? This never occurred to us. I believe it had something to to with the atmosphere of complete acceptance that my parents provided. She interacted socially with others like any kid would, and she distanced herself from the youngsters in her class who would act erratically or make noise.
Seemu coined expressions ( one liners )which a lot us in family used overriding the copy right and one such favorite dialogue that she would often use in her school where my mother was a teacher “Yeh taray MR Bacchae” { these Mentally Retarded children of yours } because she always thought of herself as a shade better and rowdy behavior would offend her.
I’m not sure when special education became ingrained in our bodies, minds, and souls. All I know is that Seemu, as we used to call her, opened our eyes to a world of endless possibilities and hard work, and the entire family became involved. I am incredibly grateful to Seemu and my mother for their legacy, which makes working with children who have special needs so much enjoyable as each child brings A different World with many Permutation and Combinations.
The importance of “One crucial aspect” Mrs. Usha R. Ahear always emphasised on was “Early Intervention”, which is seldom early and turns into delayed intervention for a variety of reasons. The most significant is that parents are in a state of denial and are frantically trying to find out if its true that we have a Special Child and so are desperately looking for guidance. I shall continue posting small gifts I received as learning. In my forthcoming articles from time to time with the certainty that, someone will benefit so, Groom more seemu’s with love, care, patience and give them equal opportunity to blossom.
A tribute to Mrs. Usha R. Ahear and Seemu, who are no longer with us but the light lit by them will guide and motivate us because
We CAN do it , We SHALL do it, We WILL do it…
I CAN do it , I SHALL do it, I WILL do it…