Ramamani too wished only success for her child and wanted her to excel in every field. Being trained in pedagogy she was very confident that achieving this was going to be child's play for her. But trouble beset her in her path. No amount of coaching could ensure that her daughter Suma's score improved. Finally taking professional help seemed to be the only solution.
14th June 2004, was a dark day in her life. She was holding her daughter's Psycho Educational Evaluation Report signed by the Head of Department, Psycho Education Unit, Diagnostics Research Centre, Spastics Society of Karnataka that stated that her daughter had Learning Disability. The report recommended changing her syllabus from CBSE to SSLC and for exemption of II and III languages in 8th Standard.
Her daughter wished to continue in the same school although Ramamani had her own doubts. But the counsellor, Latha Vidyaranya, supported her daughter and this convinced Ramamani to take the bold step of retaining her in the CBSE syllabus. To support her further, she got a Diploma in Learning Disability. It paid off. Her daughter passed the class X exams in flying colours. She is doing class XI in the CBSE stream now.
Her struggles and hardships have emboldened her to face an audience of eminent personalities like Dr C R Chandrashekhar, Prof, Dept of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bangalore, Sri Shyamasundar Sharma, Senior Principal, Sri Vani Education Centre, Rajajinagar, Bangalore, Dr Uma Hirisave, Prof Dept of Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS, Dr Nalini, Psychologist, Dept of Clinical Psychology, NIMHANS and Dr Gururaja Karajagi, Educationist and President, ACT and a team headed by Dr R Parthasarathy, Prof and HOD, Psychiatric Social Work, NIMHANS, Bangalore and share her story with them recently at a seminar on Total Well being of Children. She could sense the total empathy of the audience.
Ramamani further clarifies that movies like Tare Zameen Par touch a chord in each mother's heart and portrays the struggle many mothers face while bringing up their children. She says,"Parents take a long time to admit there could be something wrong with their child. Ignorance about disability is prevalent and does a lot of harm by delaying intervention. Teachers too have a major role to play in helping to detect if a child is learning disabled, but they too may know little about what signs and behaviours to look for. Teachers may not be ready to take responsibility owing to time constraints. But, if early diagnosis is not followed by appropriate remedial assistance to the child, he/she is labelled and stigmatised for life without any solution being offered. These children need special support and services. The importance of early intervention is the key to creating a healthy teaching-learning process. I wish each school has a Resource Centre where children with Learning Disability get individual attention at least in primary classes and prepare parents to take additional responsibility/support instead of blaming teachers/school etc. Teachers/parents must emphasise effort and not excellence. This goes a long way in helping the child regain its confidence and face the world."
Let us hope that the Education Department heeds this mother’s plea and those of many others in similar circumstances.
