It was one of those days of summer when sweat never stopped dripping down the skin, waiting at the counter of a shop near my hostel, to quench my thirst with a tetra pack of branded lassi, I felt someone tugging at my kurta.
Living in a metropolitan that is home to some extremely indecent men I turned around in fury. But what I saw was just a little boy, whose mother was busy picking up things from another counter of the shop. With the very first glance at the boy it was easy to make out the boy was a child with special needs, he was having difficulty in maintaining a balance while standing.
While walking away from the shop, the mother was holding his hands the erratic movements of his hands and feet and his defocused eyes explained his condition clearly. Coming back from college, often I would spot the mother son duo walking near my hostel. Though the boy had problem in carrying out simple muscular movements and had problem in coordination of different body parts. There was not one moment that he left his mother’s hand.
The mother carried different expressions on her face each day sometimes it was a smile, and sometimes it was a frown. On rare days I saw the mother pulling at her child angrily. But the child never left his mother’s hand/dupatta.
As this little boy, any child with special needs like their counterparts connect strongly with their parents especially mothers. But parenting a child with special needs is difficult and it often needs a lot of patience. Guilt, anger, disgust, pain, sorrow are few emotions that are often felt by parents. Parenting styles and behaviour of the parent towards a child goes a long way in helping a child with special needs perform better in daily life activities.
In India sadly till date very little attention has been given to children with special needs. Fortunately with changing times, there have been some positive changes in the society and its outlook towards mental ailments. Today when I write this blog, I am transported back to my graduation days. The human brain was always an intriguing thing for me, this was one of the reasons why I opted for psychology as a subject during graduation. Today I owe a major part of my sensitivities to the system of education I belonged to, but the question we address today is that how many of the students are able to understand mental ailments and not sympathise, but connect with children of special needs and be sensitive towards them.
Let us now have a look at some studies conducted by psychologists in the field of child psychology. The debate on whether a child with special needs can be or not be a part of mainstream schooling has been going on for a long passage of time. Studies have time and again proved that with the correct treatment children with special needs can join mainstream schools. But it is also important that understand that a child with severe problems cannot be put into mainstream schools. Another thing to keep in mind is while the child can be admitted to mainstream school, it is very necessary for the institution and the guardians to arrange for special educational services for the child.
Until the 20th century, not much attention was being paid to special traits of psychopathology in children across the world. It was only during the 20th century that assessing, treating and understanding the maladaptive behaviour patterns of children and adolescents began. Mental disorders of childhood and adolescence can be categorised roughly in the following:
- Maladaptive behaviour patterns
- Common disorders of childhood
- Learning disabilities
- Mental retardation
It is crucial to understand that young children form one of the most vulnerable groups to psychological problems (Ingram and Price 2001). Young children have limited knowledge and experience. They have limited understanding of self and are unaware of the resources that can be used to deal with a problem. Therefore it is quite understandable that they perceive a small threat as disproportionately big. Children are also much more dependent on other humans than adults, therefore rejection or disappointment from parent in any form can also lead to problems with the child.
The DSM IV TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, Text Revision) issued by APA (American Psychiatric Association) has mentioned the name of a large number of childhood and adolescent disorders on its Axis 1. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct disorder, Separation anxiety disorder, Selective mutism and childhood depression are common disorders of childhood. These disorders mostly involve change in behaviour patterns and can be treated easily if paid attention to and worked upon. These disorders also related/linked to the behaviour patterns of parents, guardians and people around the child. For example marital discord, hard discipline often leads to conduct disorders in child.
The second category of disorders deal is called pervasive development disorders, these are a group of severely disabling conditions that are difficult to understand and treat. Some examples are Autism and Asperger’s syndrome.
Learning disabilities in children is a term that refers to a certain kind of retardation, delay in development or disorder. It may be manifested in speech, language, mathematical or motor skills. It is important to note that a child with learning disability can experience deep emotional stress and disturbance if put in a normal learning scenario such as mainstream schools. But at the same time there are therapies and methods by which these disabilities can be cured, or the child can be helped with learning. Studies have shown that children with learning disabilities if given proper therapy and session can manage very well as adults.
In the end there are a few things that I would like to draw my reader’s attention to; a child with special needs is a child like every other child in our homes. They are very normal, but it is us who make them ‘pagal’ by behaving inappropriately with them.
A child is unaware of many things, we as adults can easily understand. An emotionally disturbed child or children with maladaptive behaviour will never be able to ask for assistance. It is the responsibility of the family, especially the parents to keep a tab on the child and understand if the child needs professional help. Also teachers dealing with children in school as well as college should be sensitive towards the needs of their students.
Studies have shown that early intervention has a huge role to play in child psychopathology. Early intervention reduces stressors in a child’s life and also strengthens a child’s coping mechanisms. Therefore it is essential for every home, every school, every college to pay attention to children and their needs. Let us not sympathise and feel sorry for them but help them have a better life and carve a niche for themselves.
The next time you call your friend/sibling “Pagal” remember that it may affect the other person quite adversely.
Children are the future of the country, let us not mock and make fun of the ones because …Woh pagal nahi hai sirf differently abled hai. Think before you speak!
Thank You
Note: Image used in this article is only for representational purpose.
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