: For most of us, certain theories of science have always made more sense when explained step-by-step by a peer or a teacher, who also demonstrates it simultaneously. At Vidya Sagar on Thursday, nearly 70 children from 15 different schools explained to visitors their understanding of how evolution works or what helps a chameleon change its colours and many other concepts of science. In every team, however, holding crucial cards that denote what the project was about and trying to understand what the visitors wanted to know were students with various disabilities, which made the science fair truly inclusive.
There is almost nothing that Surya Prakash, a student with neurological disability, does not know about a frog's life cycle. Eggs and tadpoles made of clay are stuck firmly to a chart and when he has problem in explaining ‘metamorphosis', his teammate M. Vignesh, a student of Anna Gem Science Park Matriculation Higher Secondary School, immediately intervenes and takes charge. “There is so much difference we see in our children now. They are so hyperactive otherwise; this kind of exercise makes them patient and sensitive to needs,” says Nandini, a teacher from the school.
“Often, special children do not like teachers intervening when they are trying out an activity, but they do not mind when their friends help them out. The fact that children do not know the technical details of the disability also helps. When they see a teammate's hand does not work, they will immediately use their hand, and they use total communication with gestures that also helps them communicate better with these children than adults,” says Sujatha Sriram, a special and counsellor with Vidya Sagar. The programme was spread across two months when children with neurological disability were sent to different schools to work on science projects with other students. “It is just like working with other teammate. I did not think garbage was causing pollution but Kavya said land pollution was a serious concern too,” says M. Shivasaran, a student of class VIII of Venkata Subbarao Matriculation School, about his teammate who has a disability. Together, they presented a model village that countered all kinds of pollution in a sustainable way.
Such collaborative efforts, say special educators, will help schools realise the need to be inclusive. “Now, schools are getting more open to admitting children with disability. They have started asking for suggestions to provide facilitators and assistance, which is a good sign,” says Srimathi Kaver, co-ordinator of the fair.
