Success Stories
A school’s first differently abled child
Twelve years ago, Sriram admitted a 5 year old boy with autism into a school she used to work for. The boy was the first differently abled child to be admitted into that school.
The boy had been going to a play school and his parents had approached Sriram saying they wanted their son to go to a mainstream school.
“But the child was not ready,” Sriram said. “He was nonverbal and he used to have lot of sensory issues because of which behavior issues were there. He used to bite everybody, pinch everybody. So then we put him in a learning center for about 2 years wherein I used to give him intervention.”
The boy eventually joined the school Sriram worked in when he reached 3rd standard. The school didn’t know how to deal with a child like him, Sriram said, because he was still pinching other kids and running away from his classes. But Sriram held a peer sensitization workshop for his classmates and the boy’s teacher took ownership and responsibility of the child. Together, with a supportive school management combined with all the effort put in by everyone, the boy began to communicate a little bit.
He studied in that school until 7th standard, after which the school management changed and the boy was forced to leave the school. Still, Sriram said that was a big success for the boy and the school.
The resource room at Montfort School in Chennai
When the parents remembered to call and share the happy news
Sriram then spoke of another boy who was studying in a special school until about 6th or 7th grade. She admitted him into Montfort School.
“He was a child with autism on the verbal spectrum,” she said. “Continuously used to talk, talk, talk. Used to run away from the class and then come back.”
Once again, the school provided accommodations for the child and the teacher and a special educator worked with him.
Neurotypical and differently abled chilren play together at Motfort School in Chennai
He studied in Montfort until 9th standard, after which he left because he couldn’t do math. Unfortunately, math is a mandatory subject in State board syllabus, Sriram said, so the boy switched to NIOS.
Sriram said she stopped working with this child in 8th standard.
“Day before yesterday his parent called me up,” she said. “I had not intervened with the child for the last 5 years. He called me up and said, ‘Ma'am, he's passed his 12th grade with 68 percentage. We thought you should know because you were the first one who admitted him in the mainstream school.’ I feel that is a big success because the parent need not have called me. It was very overwhelming because there are very few parents who remember what we have done and get back to us.”
From shy guy to confident, talented drummer
Another boy Sriram worked with about eight years ago, also with autism, was completely nonverbal and had mental retardation. He was already going to a special school, but Sriram said it wasn’t doing much for him, so his parents approached her asking if she could privately tutor him and incorporate some academics into his lessons so he can do something with his life.
Sriram noticed within a couple sessions with the 12 year old boy that he was shy and had very low self esteem because he was constantly looking down.
“But one thing I noticed is whenever there used to be a pencil or a pen nearby, he used to drum it,” she said. “Drumming. So then I told the parent that maybe he's interested in drumming, so why don't you venture somewhere near your area and see if he can find any class where there is drumming class. But they couldn't find, then I found somebody and connected the parent, and he went for drumming class. Believe me, after that the whole personality of a child changed. Because he loved drumming so much, he started looking at people up. His body language, everything changed.”
He couldn’t read, but could identify pictures. Sriram channeled his love for drumming and used drumming instruments as sight words for him. The boy started showing an interest in academics.
The boy got totally into drumming, started playing at concerts, and began to earn some money. His parents asked Sriram to teach him some money handling skills so she gave him a few sessions on that.
Now 19 or 20 years old, Sriram proudly said this former student of hers went on to be one of 1,000 students selected to play with the famous Indian drummer Sivamani.
“So for him, for me, that was a proud moment,” Sriram stated. “A boy who could not talk, he could not meet people's eyes, was playing in front of thousand people without feeling scared.”