The day H. Abdul Kader was born, his father, a doctor, gave up his practice. Kader, now 33, has lived with a disability from birth. Even today, he could be mistaken for a 16-year-old.
The young man gets help from a school for people like him set up by parents.
“He sings well and is very good at weighing things. We train our inmates in various activities and Abdul Kader takes care of packaging provisions and weighing them,” says his carer, T.S. Rajan, who runs the Nanjil Oasis Happy Centre for Mentally Retarded Children, in Punnai Nagar, Nagercoil.
Rajan’s own son, 18-year-old Shyam Sundar, has cerebral palsy and attended a special school, before parents of over 40 such children decided to come together and set up the school in 2016. The centre is run by Parents Welfare Trust.
“Most of the teachers at our centre are parents of the children, who are trained in giving care,” said Rema, wife of Mr. Rajan, who also teaches at the agency. The youngest member here is three-and-a-half and the oldest is 33. They have conditions like cerebral palsy, autism or other mental retardation issues.
One of them is L. Somasundaram, who has ADH syndrome (a condition resulting in sodium abnormalities). He moves around the three-room centre, constantly humming jingles from advertisements.
“He is computer savvy. When he listens to a song, he immediately searches on the net to get further details. He is so alert that he knows which textile shop is starting a new branch in the State,” says Mr. Rajan.
No regular fee
The centre works seven days a week. Since most of the parents are not affluent, it does not insist on a regular fee.
“We provide transport to bring the children to the school five days a week. It is the parents’ responsibility to bring them on weekends,” says Mr. Rajan. There is mutual help among the students. When asked by the carers, 33-year old I. Krishnan readily carries a student to the class room for a morning prayer. Krishnan also looks like any regular higher secondary student.
Besides imparting appropriate formal lessons, the Centre provides vocational training, packaging skills and organises other educational activities.
“We do not have enough teachers for special children. Here, parents double up as teachers when the regulars go on leave. The idea is to offer skills that will help them sustain themselves,” says Jessila Banu, the headmistress of the school. Kanyakumari district has the highest number of 19 schools for special children, she says.
Since parents work closely with the institutions, they have a good understanding of the needs of special children.
The centre functions from a rented building and Mr. Rajan is hopeful that it would get a spacious place soon, as it turns three.
