There were many schools where she did get admission but equal opportunity is where her father had to fight as schools offered special opportunity while he wanted equal platform and treatment for her. She also stressed that the teachers need to change their attitude wherein some are extremely liberal and some are very strict with children of special needs. The idea is to have teachers who treat them just like other children. As per her both the methods are apparently harmful to the kids as their either make the kids over confident or just hamper their potential from coming out due to over appreciation. The inclusive right needs to be there from childhood a child needs to be compassionate towards differently abled peers of theirs for better understanding and co-existence.

She even harped upon the need to have a specially designed curriculum for children with special needs. For example, an autistic child is unable to study a few languages and if forced to do so with the same curriculum, wouldn’t help. Instead if a special curriculum is designed for them, it would help.

She also harped that the current system of education is trying to push inclusive education methodology but the holistic approach required to do so is missing yet. The need of the hour is to have workshops around the sensitization of the issue and the focus needs to be on how all the children can grow together in one positive environment.

There has been a rise in the cases and the situation now is quite worse than it was some three decades ago. Today you may see umpteen incidences associated with involvement of children in substance abuse, self-harm, anxiety, depression and more. There has been a spike in cases of learning disabilities and autism as well in the last few years. There is also a widespread surge in sexual abuse of children. Due to the mental health challenges faced by children, their families are subjected to stress and collapsing as well.

We have always believed that childhood days are the most carefree days of our lives. But, may be that was the scenario long back. Today our lifestyle has changed drastically and this includes our food habits, exposure to various digital mediums, lack of outdoor sports and games, to name a few. We need to understand and accept that fact that children are basically the most vulnerable ones and they do not have inbuilt capabilities of coping mechanisms or problem solving. Children may feel left out, bullied, insecure due to the circumstances or about themselves.

HOW TO DEAL WITH IT
Primarily, we have to compassionate and try to see how it feels like to be in their shoes. What is also important is to not ignore any suspect worthy symptoms because early intervention can go a long way in shaping up a better future for your child. As parent you need to consult a professional child psychologist (clinical or counselling) or even your child’s school counsellor. Keeping faith in your doctor and patience is also of as much importance.

As per Psychologist from New York with a doctorate in Psychology research shows that the early the intervention the better. Particularly with evidence based interventions, earlier intervention can give better results as these are the years for laying foundation of a better future. She even says that mostly the barriers against early intervention are ignorance of the parents or the cost factor at times.

*Sourced from the Internet

Here’s an example of a teenager with special needs who had multiple disabilities including bipolar disorder and dyslexia. He used to have a lot of trouble being attentive in class or taking directions. The IQ test score revealed an upper average range of 115. Apparently, his classmates graduated and he too could have but rather than 4 years he took 6 years to do so because after high-school he got in odd jobs for many years. While experts from the area have been saying that 90% of the students with special needs are capable of graduating, there are many reasons that do not allow them to do so.

An interview with almost 100 people, 50 parents and 50 experts from different walks of life brought to light that there have been systematic problems that have led to students not able to graduate. Here’s a run through few issues students have been facing at school and around –

• Fund Issues – Inadequacy of funds leads to inadequacy in facilities needed for special needs students. Schools aren’t able to provide appropriate help to these students.
• Low Expectations – Often parents and teachers expect too less from special needs students and this actually hampers their progress and maybe to an extent even self-confidence.
• Wrong Decisions – Many a times mis-judgement of the abilities of students with special needs and pushing them into alternate diploma programs.
• Training Issues – Many times students are not trained or taught the skills of communication and organization that they need to adapt with the college level and real world.
• Ignorance – Sometimes parents aren’t aware of the rights of special children and are not willing to go in for long battles with schools for them.

A special education advocate in the USA described how in the middle school years she was told that she would never be able to reach college level in the 1990’s due to her disability of reading comprehension in elementary school. Instead of helping her through reading comprehension, her high school put her into remedial courses in English and Maths. But, due to her mindfulness of her parents, who hired a tutor to help her, she could complete her graduation at school and even went on to complete her graduation at the California University, San Diego.

Well, the fact of the matter is that parents and school need to understand that even if their children have multiple disabilities they can grow up to complete their education with the support of the school and them.