Transcript Document

‘I don't give a damn for
any man who can spell a
word only one way..‘
Mark Twain
That was an essay written by me when I
was in class VI, I thought I had written a
great essay, but my teacher did not think
the same!
I am 26 years old now, I live in New
Zealand, I moved here after my
graduation to pursue further studies
here. I did my post graduation and am
a certified mountaineer and camper, I
Last year when I came to India, I went
back to school to meet up with my
teachers and friends. I also met my
special educator who helped me a great
deal during my school days. I think I
was her favourite. She kept copious
notes on me, of the sessions she took,
and the progress I made. If you went
through those notes, this is what you
would see…
“Failed in Std 4. Parents were shocked,
as his performance from Std I to 3 was
reasonably good. Parents decided to
change his school, and he joined
Bombay Cambridge School. Worked
very hard through Std 5 and 6, but his
results showed scores below average.
Parents were quite
desperate….he
didn’t study, wanted to play all the time,
had the brains but showed poor
marks…”!
My parents met the counsellor, who
began work with the hope to find the
reason for my poor performance. She
identified it as pressure and met my
parents to help me on the home front.
My parents were already quite easy
with me - baffled by this profile, the
counsellor referred me to the special
educator who began taking me for
sessions. She began with meeting my
teachers, and one of them showed her
I don’t know what was wrong – its not
that I didn’t try to study – its just that
nothing seemed to make any sense…
Sometimes I was scared that I was all
wrong, that the school would throw me
out…
From
one
professional
to
another…nobody could help me…My
The counsellor and special educator put
me through a series of diagnostic tests,
both educational and psychological.
Met my teachers, parents, gathered
information and compiled the student’s
(my) profile which read as follows ….
Age : - 12 years old,
Studying in :- Std. 6
What teachers said :- he has barely
managed to pass the class over the last
2 years. He cannot read, has difficulty in
completing his work and his handwriting
is illegible. But he is bright, and can
answer in class, he knows a lot! He is
shy and soft-spoken.
What the counsellor said :- there is a
noticeable concern about his growing
unhappiness
and
frustration
with
learning tasks. There is anxiety, and he
is hesitant in attempting tasks related to
academics.
He is intelligent, he can talk endlessly
about animals, loves watching TV
channels like Discovery, loves books on
nature. Enjoys outdoor activities.
He is an articulate and sensitive child
who is a passionate animal and nature
lover.
His educated and caring parents are
confused over his academic struggle.
They are understanding parents, and
are eager to help in any way possible.
It is important to support him with
remediation and to help get provisions
What the test results said :- on the
WISC, his IQ fell into the category of
‘bright-normal’ and there was significant
discrepancy between PIQ and VIQ. On
other formal and informal tests, there
were clear indicators of learning
disabilities, especially in the areas of
reading and written work (dyslexia and
dysgraphia).
The above profile indicated that the
The special educator first met my
parents and explained all about learning
disability, they were relieved, and
reassured that their child would survive
the school system.
Then she met me, spoke to me at length
about my ‘problem’. I listened carefully,
but did not grasp all of it. I just smiled
and said, ‘Miss, thank god, I’m not mad!’
It was the first time that somebody didn’t
blame me for the problem… I had been
feeling both guilty and ashamed for
causing so much distress to my parent
and my nice teachers…
All my classmates seemed to do things
so easily…I could understand what the
teacher said, but when it got written, it
made my head swim…
I started receiving two hours of intensive
learning assistance thrice a week,
directed towards reading as well as
written skills and adapting tasks to suit
my
style
of
learning.
After a couple of months of remediation,
I began to make some improvement. My
teachers too confirmed my slow and
steady progress. The teachers although
hesitant initially, facilitated the process by
It was soon recommended that I should
avail of the provisions granted at the
SSC board level examinations, and
would have to approach the Sion
Hospital to procure the certificate for the
same.
13 years ago the process of certification
was not easy for schools and parents to
comprehend, but after a few visits to the
hospital, the certification process was
The LD certificate gave me the
provisions of replacing languages with
subjects that were more practical
oriented, and I also had the provision
of a writer, and extra time, which greatly
reduced
my
anxiety
during
examinations.
Helping to get a writer, making alternate
question papers, were all new to the
school system, but the school was
Initially I was delighted that I didn’t
have to struggle with languages… at
the same time, I was also worried
whether my friends would tease me…
My teacher explained to me that it was
alright to get help, and that it didn’t
mean I was dumb or that there was
something wrong with me…
Special
Educators
report:
The
remediation and the provisions were not
easy solutions in themselves. From the
repeated failure cycles had surfaced a
myriad of questions of self-doubt and
apprehension at meeting success.
Rebuilding the child’s confidence in his
own abilities was also a key objective of
the remediation strategy. With renewed
hope and great belief in himself, he
prepared to write the SSC examinations
Here is an experience that I shared with
my teacher when I got home after the
first paper.
“As all the
students waited to enter the examination
hall, they wished each other, ‘Best of
Luck!’ One of the students said ‘Why
should we wish you – best of luck, we
will wish your writer, he is writing your
paper!’ I was hurt and upset because I
had studied hard and I knew that my
You cannot imagine my joy when the
results were declared - I got a 69%, which
was awesome! I joined Bhavan’s College
and graduated in Biology. My love for
animals and nature got me interested in
various club activities in college. I found
that my difficulty in no way hampered my
involvement in this, and I volunteered for
adventure and mountaineering camps in
the Himalayas. I soon became an
instructor on nature trail camps, and I
That’s my story, I keep in touch with all
my friends and teachers, I regularly
post my pictures on FB when I do
something new and exciting.
Today, when I look at where I’ve
reached, I don’t think I’m very different
from the others around - even though I
have a learning disability, I’m doing
what I love and that’s what really
matters, doesn’t it?
Bombay Cambridge
Gurukul