The Special Needs Park near Lotus Tank on Alagarkoil Road here reopened on Sunday after a gap of nearly a year since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
Madurai Group Living Foundation, which runs the park, organised an event to celebrate the International Women’s Day to coincide with the reopening of the park. S. Selvagomathi, Managing Trustee of SOCO Trust, said special children had all the basic human rights as any normal child. Human dignity must be ensured to special children at home and in public spaces. The schools and colleges must be inclusive of special children and ensure their participation.
The government’s policies played an important role in forming community-based living for the special children and their parents, she said.
M.D. Vijayalakshmi, a counsellor, said every parent of a special child must be confident, motivated and accept their children. She said a special park must be opened in every two wards of the city. “In other parks, the special children are often ridiculed, which disheartens the parents,” she said.
T. Bhuvaneshwari, Principal of Aakash Special School, said there was a lack of awareness about special educators. Although there are rules on inclusive education, most of the normal schools do not admit special children to their schools, she said.
Moogambigai, who runs BUDS Special School, spoke about how to obtain I.D. card and monthly allowances for special children.
