Chapter 7

Diagnosis and label….importance of both!

We needed to get some assessments done for the new start in the new school. When my daughter was around three years old, we had got her MIR and CT scan done to see if physiologically she was ok. Psychological assessments done then at various institutes and clinics could not give us any concrete diagnosis. Either it was too early then to label or her case was a little unusual in those days. In 2000 January, she was seven years old now. It was comparatively easier to get an idea of her ‘can’ and ‘cannot’, provided they matched her interest and intelligence.

Going to Autism center, Vimhans, AIIMS, NIPCCD, and online researches gave us a fair idea that my daughter is in the spectrum of Autism. Her ability to read and spell at such a young age says that she is high functioning and has a lot of potential which needs to be chanelised. Now that we were lucky to have found the right learning environment for our child, we were hopeful and mentally stronger. School suggested that we work on certain areas  to enhance her skills which will improve her chances to adjust and learn better in the big school set up.

The need of attaching a LABEL to the child became a major concern in those days. It had its positive and negative connotations. When you define a child with the label, it attaches certain features to the child, even if they are not necessarily present. With the features come the do-s and don’t-s, which again may not necessarily work with the child. On the other hand, when you see symptoms of a disability present in a child, you can get an idea of how to begin work, and broadly what to expect from the child. This was my understanding after interacting with special educators and attending few workshops.

On one occasion before an assessment the psychologist said, autistic children donot get affected by presence or absence of people, they love to be on their own. As soon as I started with  my “But….” she gave me a firm look to leave the room quietly. I could hear loud cries and tantrums from outside and ran to peep from the glass door. My daughter was very unsettled, no toy or puzzle seemed to be of help. I was asked to come in and she immediately held my hand and pulled me to exit.  Later she did cooperate for the assessment but preconceived judgement had already damaged the situation.

By now my daughter could read and type sentences, she could spell very difficult and long words, without being taught. During assessments we came across monotonous drills like identifying a,  b,  c, d…which would naturally demotivate her. So anticipating this, I would promise her a reward in advance so that she cooperates during assessment.

I would often wonder, this child is born different with different abilities, she has to justify this…time and again to please us and others!!!