Quality Special Schools Need Sprouting Up

When Mr. Joshi was offered a hefty job abroad, he sure was tempted by the deal. And had it not been for his two disabled kids, schooling of whom was one massive concern, he would have grabbed it without blinking an eye. His decision to move abroad was largely, rather solely, hinged on his kids.

Mr. Joshi was working in Mumbai, Maharashtra when a startling discovery ruffled a few feathers; two of his kids were discovered with autism. It was shattering, and it took more than a while for the truth to sink in. The first impulsive instinct that struck him and his wife was to admit their children into a mentally retarded school. But wouldn’t have that simply implied that they wanted to get rid of the situation? That they did not have the strength to face the reality, no matter how unacceptable and daunting it was?

No parent can ever leave his children in a lurch. While admission into a top school for the mentally challenged was something they could no longer avoid, admission into a good school, the one that would look into the minutest needs of their children was what they had wanted in particular. He recalls how in Mumbai, in the previous centre, his children were not attended to properly. The teachers were disrespectful and as Mr. Joshi realized later, didn’t have the knack of comprehending even the most basic needs of special children.

Not every special school that promises to deliver quality and understanding is capable of doing so. And not every school, special or not, is able to cater to the overall, particularly mental goodwill of the special children. If there was one thing that held Mr. Joshi back from even contemplating a shift, it was a lingering concern that his children, who needed a good mentor as much as they needed him.