Beyond School: College
The NIOS syllabus allows differently abled children to graduate from 12th grade and, because it is a syllabus recognized by the central government, let them enroll in any college in India.
However, just like the problems with getting differently abled children admitted into schools despite the RTE Act, colleges too pose a striking lack of accommodations, which discourages differently abled people to join them, according to Sriram.
Still, many differently abled children do enroll in colleges, thanks to a few colleges that take in these students now, according to Sriram.
“So Ethiraj college takes in, DG Vaishnav College in Arumbakkam takes in, Jain College, MCC takes in, SIVET College here, they take in,” she listed out. “There are few colleges now.”
Sriram said differently abled children mostly pursue subjects like commerce, arts and social work. Very few take science majors though.
The colleges do not open up with the accommodations on their own, according to Sriram. However, by the time the child gets to college, the special educators and NGOs working with the child have empowered the parents. Now, the parents start fighting their own battles, she said, and sometimes the child themself is an activist.
“Our role does not end with just teaching and training the parent, the child, the special educator,” Sriram said. “It also involves in empowering the parents, empowering the other professionals to preach inclusion, coordinate with the therapist and make inclusion success.”
What’s Next for Samuel?
At the time I talked to Boaz and Samuel, Samuel had just finished 12th grade and wanted to take a gap year, like his cousin did before she started college in London.
However, Boaz told Samuel he needed to spend his gap year productively, so that he would have something to show for himself when he goes to universities for admissions. She suggested he take a year-long course on travel and tourism and put in an application for him at one of Chennai’s most prestigious colleges.
“I just put in an application and I came out,” she said. “And I was determined not to get concessions for him. You know, I didn't want people to think otherwise for him. Of course I had to submit certificates and all that, but I didn't want him to get through any quota.”
Boaz said her father never believed in any kind of reservations for them in schools or colleges, because Samuel would be sixth or seventh generation college graduate in her family. She also hoped that if her son could get in on his own, through sheer merit, it would be a huge boost to his self confidence.
And Samuel was confident indeed. Boaz said that throughout their summer trip before Samuel went to the college for the admissions interview, he kept saying he definitely will get in and talked about all the things he would do after he joins the college.
Boaz said she didn’t want him getting too over confident, but she helped him prepare for the interview. However, a surprise awaited them when she and Samuel appeared at the college.
Samuel had to take an entrance exam, which Boaz did not know would be there and Samuel had not prepared for.
Both Boaz and the staff at the college were doubtful of how Samuel would perform on the entrance exam.
“He's not got a very expressive face,” she said. “So when he goes there and he just stares at them, they kind of know, okay, he has special needs and all that. They look at him differently.”
The people at the college were not even sure if they could communicate with him, according to Boaz.
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Conquering the exam
Samuel, however, simply said he’ll try the exam and went for it. When the results came, Boaz said everyone was shocked. Samuel aced the exam.
“I was able to do it,” Samuel said. “I was able to.”
Of the 10 questions that appeared on his question paper, Samuel said he knew all the answers except one. In fact, Boaz said the staff told them he had done better than all the other who applied for the course.
Boaz said that to ace the exam, one needed both general knowledge as well as industrial knowledge about travel and tourism, which is basically what Samuel had already.
His face changed when the results were unveiled.
“I felt happy, I was so proud,” Samuel said. “Very proud.”
The way the staff, who were previously judgemental, looked at Samuel also changed. Boaz said that when people usually look at her son, they expect nothing. They expect him to know nothing; they expect him to be able to do nothing.
However, on occasions like this when Samuel proves himself to everyone, they look impressed and surprised. That is when they start treating Samuel differently, or rather, normally.
They went from 'We've never taken any special needs before in this department, and so we don't know. And only if he finishes, if he gets through this entrance test, he'll qualify for an interview,’ to, 'I think we've completely underestimated him, and he's done so well. He's just got one question wrong, and he's done better than all the other children and people who are older than him who's done this test. So you know, there's no problem at all, interview is just a formality…,’ according to Boaz, describing their complete attitude change.
Hope
Even though Samuel conquered the entrance exam, Boaz said nothing is still set in stone for him.
“He might do the first semester great, or the second may not be so good,” she said. “The third might be brilliant. So you never know with him.”
She said she has to be realistic with her expectations of him.
Despite her uncertainty with Samuel’s academic performance, Boaz said she hopes college life opens him up to social communication.
“See, now I'm happy my son's got into college,” Boaz said. “But that's just the first step, right? How he copes in college socially, emotionally, academically, all those things will now be looming ahead. Which would happen in time.”
At the time I talked to Samuel, he was mostly quiet, stiff, and his expressions were stilted.
Aarti Boaz and Mihir Alexander Samuel
Boaz said he’s much more relaxed when he’s not being observed, like when he was giving travel advice to a woman on the plane and thought his mother was asleep.
She paused.
“I think when going to college,” Boaz said, “he may get bullied, right? But he might also learn to survive better and communicate.”