While the school van dropped a kid off to his home I overheard some guys talking to each other. 'Oey! Ye bhi school jaata hai?' (Hey! Does he go to school too?) And the next guy replying 'Pata nahi isne madam ko kitna pagal kiya hua hoga'(I wonder how mad he must have driven his teacher). Not to mention, the kid we dropped is a mentally challenged child. After listening to this conversation I was left to wonder, who is the sane one there? The grown up guys who were mocking that little kid or that innocent child who was all smiling and going towards his home?
Looking at these kids, this question always comes in my mind; are these kids better or we, the so-called sane ones? I, personally, deal with these kids these days. What I discovered is that they are the most beautiful people around. You will always find them smiling. You look at them and smile and they will come hugging you. They don’t demand/desire for anything. They won’t bug you unnecessarily. You indulge them in an activity they are interested in and you can make them do it for hours. You just need to figure out their interests and trust me, they are the simplest.
Many people around ask me if these kids get violent or not? The answer is yes! They do. But, what I noticed is that they won’t ever hit you just like that. These kids generally are treated so badly that they get violent in self defence. They always expect you to hit them and to avoid that, they hit you beforehand. And that is not the usual case. That happens very rarely. You treat them nicely and they wouldn’t ever do that. They are so happy in their own good world that coming back to this real world becomes harsh for them. They will laugh, cry, jump around, talk to themselves and even pat their own back when they feel like. They are not the ones misfit here in this world; it’s us!
Handling special kids, of any sort, sure is a difficult task. It requires a lot of patience but a little extra effort can polish these gems into somebody we can never imagine. These kids do improve and move to the next level. Once we see the improvement they are sent to the slow learner group and then to the normal schools. And if not this all, the kid gets at least to a position where he can help himself. He can move around with the world. Isolating these kids is like a poison to the children and to the people around them too. Chaining them or not bringing them to the real world is the worst thing you can do to them. And if you think, these children should be killed once you come to know about their disabilities; you can’t get crueler.
It’s not easy, but, try treating these kids as normal ones with a little more care. They are much better than your usual spoilt brats. There is a rare chance that they will be mischievous. If you wish to see an improvement in mentally challenged children; you need to get to their level and break the shell they are confined to. Once you do it, you can make them do all. Just a little patience, forgetting all the stereotypical things about them, can do the magic.
You are no one to tag anybody as insane. You can never tell how much potential they have to achieve the impossible. These children strive harder than us all to live in this world. They bear with us all and can't even express how bad they feel. They already live a confused life, our harsh behaviours just make things worst for them. If you think they are retards; treat them like you are not one.
YOU CAN VIEW THE SIMILAR POST AT THE CAUSE BLOG
