Chapter 2

Amazing and confusing!!

My daughter was fascinated by words and letters at a very young age of one year and four months. She pointed at words and insisted that we read them, which she remembered at one glance. This was amazing and yet very confusing for us to relate to her unusual intelligence. We tried gathering knowledge by reading up the internet and came across “Hyperlexia”. This self diagnosis somewhat matched with our child’s present concerns. We realized that we are on the right track in terms of intervention.

Our wise and very competent speech therapist suggested that I observe her sessions and do the follow up exercises a few times at home, DAILY. Consistent and regular hard work for months without any immediate results only re-established the shloka, “Karmanyevadikaraste maa faleshu kadaachana…..”

In the play school she managed to stay for few hours but needed constant attention to sit and listen. I sent my help to assist the teachers in school, but she was not benefitting really. All we wanted was, to give her a NORMAL environment and felt grateful to the nursery school for accommodating her.

We encouraged her advanced reading ability, by adding new words and sentences to her vocabulary. Then one day she surprised us by calling me “MAA” during her speech session. I cried real loud and continuously. She was then 4 years old 1998.
Gradually, she could repeat words and read around 500 words. We dared to apply for admission to a few NORMAL schools in Delhi. By God’s grace, she got admission into one. We were thrilled and celebrated our good luck. School promised to try to help her and review her progress after six months. We were super excited to click her pictures in her school uniform, fancy dress and on Independence Day! We felt like NORMAL parents!

After 5 months I started losing my sleep with the fear “what if school refuses to keep her beyond 6 months?” I prayed very hard every day. I remember my nervousness and shaky legs as I walked through the corridors to meet the principal of the school, to know the review!