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Today, April 2nd, is #AutismAwarenessDay. Here is something about being more inclusive to mull over, as told by a special educator for children with autism.
Imagine being told how to behave, what to do and what not to on a regular basis. Imagine having people get upset with you for stuff that doesn’t even enter your mind.
Imagine having fear running decisions that impact you: Will he/she be able to handle this? No! Let’s not take them out then. Let’s limit their world to four walls. Decisions made by others on your behalf, without trying, without working with you, without teaching you and you are 6 years old or 8 years old or 12. Or an adult who won’t be given opportunities sight unseen.
April 2nd is Autism Awareness Day. Like with everything else, we need to go beyond one day and some awareness.
Autism is a lifelong developmental condition in which kids and adults face challenges in communications and negotiating social relationships. It is a spectrum condition, meaning that we are on it too, at different levels, we supposedly ‘normal’ people.
The word to use instead of ‘normal’ is ‘neurotypical’ – normal is a math concept and changes according to the population you are looking at. In a group of kids on the autism spectrum, autism is normal.
Inclusion is something we are really fighting for on behalf of children on the autism spectrum. Despite brilliance and demonstrated ability, children with autism (and anything outside of a common definition of ‘normal’) continue to be asked to ONLY attend special schools. What’s worse is when several special schools also deny the child space in their environments.
Have a child with autism in your kid’s class? Please reach out. If you don’t know what to say or do, do ask the mom. Offer to include the child and see. Often, the tiny changes one might make will work for every child invited. Even if the parent doesn’t attend, the fact that their child has some place that wants them to belong will make their week.
I get to work with these souls who work much harder than anyone I know, to just be. If that’s not on for us, it is SO not on for anyone.
Parents of kids with autism are destined for nirvana after this life, in my opinion. Where someone is worrying about if their kids’ tiny nuance will happen, these warriors have worked with their expectations on the lines that the Gita recommends. Do your best, don’t expect, keep on trying.
Just being around these folks makes us better people. Inclusion for selfish reasons – it makes our kids smarter and more empathetic! If not for anything else, for the sake of our neurotypical kids, inclusion is required.
Please feel free to ask me anything about autism, any time, publicly or privately. I will do my best to help or bring in big guns who will.
Published first on the author’s Facebook page
Image source: shutterstock
Sangitha Krishnamurthi is a special educator, blogger and mother of three. Her interests include living a mindful and organic life as much as possible in addition to reading and writing about the reading. read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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