Joel Varkey brings in the sunshine as visitors wait to see him at The Dolphin School School & Centre in Thillai Nagar. Today, the 18-year-old has come with his parents, Drs. Shibu and Vineetha Varkey, and flashes a shy smile when he is introduced by the director, Mrs. Praveena Carmel.
Joel’s latest achievement has been in the field of sports – the teenager, who has Down’s syndrome, won the gold medal in bocce, a game of Italian origin, at the 8th Special Olympics National Games held in Patna, Bihar from July 16-21.
He was among the eight participants from the city in the 2013 Special Olympics Asia Pacific Games held in Australia, where he was placed fourth and sixth.
His latest victory could pave the way to further participation in the World Summer Games to be held in Los Angeles, California next year.
“After he started getting into sports, Joel has got a semi-celebrity status,” laughs his father. “People have started recognising him from the newspaper, and his two younger brothers also aspire to take up bocce.”
Fighting acceptance
This is a far cry from 1996, when the Varkeys were devastated to know that their first-born child had a health problem. “Being doctors, we wanted to prove the diagnosis wrong,” recalls Dr. Shibu, an eye surgeon with a leading private hospital in Tiruchi. “We went for genetic analysis, genetic counselling and many other things for up to a year.”
There is a tendency for parents, he says, to get trapped in a never-ending cycle of non-acceptance – “they move from allopathy to homeopathy, naturopathy, ayurveda, Siddha, miracle healers – just because they want the original diagnosis to be disproved. In retrospect, I’d advise parents who have children with special needs, to start therapy from Day One,” he says.
Did having a Down’s Syndrome child expose them to prejudice from their social circle? “We never restricted our movements because we had a special child, nor did we hide Joel from our family and friends. But yes, there were questions about him, and we could feel some people looking down on Joel,” says Dr. Vineetha, an ophthalmologist.
The second mistake they made, according to Dr. Shibu, was to admit Joel in a mainstream school, in the blind hope that “he would be infected by normalcy.” While he coped in preschool, Joel was unable to progress to Standard I, not the least because parents of normal children were objecting to his presence there.
Education
Joel and the Varkeys then went through the rollercoaster of the special education system in India. “While the syllabus seems to cover everything on paper, the reality is quite different. Special needs kids need one-on-one care, and simultaneous therapies – you can’t club children with different developmental and health problems together,” says Dr. Shibu. Separate speech therapy sessions helped Joel to become more articulate (he speaks to people he is comfortable with, in short Tamil or English sentences).
Praveena Carmel, the special educator who has worked with Joel since 2002, can recall his slow transformation from a stubborn toddler to a mature and friendly young adult. “We have been taught a lot by Joel,” avers Mrs. Praveena. “He can identify who is needy, and reaches out to them immediately. His friendly nature has taught us the importance of not alienating people based on their social standing.”
Joel has been playing bocce since 2009, though it is only since the past two or three years that he has understood the concept of competition, says Mrs. Praveena. “Initially we were unsure of Joel’s stamina for high-intensity games, but then Mr. Paul Devasagayam, area director-Tamil Nadu for the Special Olympics, suggested bocce, and also trained him for the Australian event,” she says.
From changing his diet to getting accustomed to the new faces at sports camps held all over India, Joel has always shown a readiness to adjust to the circumstances, say his parents.
At home, “he is a power-packed dynamo,” says his father, who will attend to his brothers until they leave for school, and then help out in the kitchen, before getting ready for his own day – which starts with computer classes at home and a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. session at the Dolphin Centre and tapers off with two hours spent at the optical store run by his mother. Bed-time is usually at 9.30 p.m.
The way ahead
Tiruchi is fortunate in having as many as 26 schools for special needs children. “We have some of the pioneer institutions – such as those working on low vision, physiotherapy and spastics – and also dedicated graduate-level courses on special education. But somehow, since they don’t promise the perks of a regular government job, fewer youngsters are opting for them,” says Mrs. Praveena.
“Many parents often are resigned to asking ‘why should I spend so much time and money on a special child? Is he going to become a doctor or an engineer?’” says Dr. Shibu. “But the first thing for them to do accept that their special child can achieve, provided they don’t measure them up to their own standards or that of their siblings.”
As to the finest lesson that she has learned from Joel, Dr. Vineetha says, “I thought having a special child would be a burden, but Joel has really made me proud. Today, wherever I go, I’m recognised as Joel’s mother.”
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What is bocce?
It is an Italian ball sport closely related to petanque and bowls, and is thought to have a lineage going back to the Egyptian civilisation. The modern-day version involves throwing balls towards a fixed target ball (known as pallina).
Bocce balls, made of metal or plastic, are spherical and have no inbuilt bias. Earlier versions included coconut shells or polished stones.
Games can be played on courts 27.5 metres (90 ft) in length and 2.5 to 4 metres (8.2 to 13.1 ft) wide, between two players or two teams of up to four players.
