Chapter 8

Excitement…apprehension….Gratitude ….for the new journey!

All set to enter the big and beautiful school! Uniform ready with a new school bag, bottle and tiffin box…all nicely labelled. A few days prior to the first day in school, I met up with the educators of school to give them an idea of the present level of functioning at home. They were already made aware of the latest reports and recommendations from clinics. I visited the temple the previous evening to thank God for the admission and prayed for good luck. A part of me felt sad for all those who were not lucky enough to get the right place for their child…. and we were one of them just a month back!

We received a very warm welcome at the reception of the school by two educators and the principal. After a short interaction, my daughter went to her class with the teachers and I was requested to wait for some time. The plan was to increase her time of stay in school (without me) gradually from one hour to four hours. After a few days of observation and interaction, the educators and I met to review her progress and plan ahead. I soon realised that the team was open to listen and they were compassionate and very patient.

God was kind to place my daughter in the hands of a class teacher who was sincere and very sensitive. She was keen to know and understand my daughter with plenty of patience and love. After a month, she had a plan in place for work in school and at home. She did not realise what that meant to me. Finally, someone was understanding my child, believing in her capabilities and taking responsibility. This  was a big relief after so many days and months and years.

Since my daughter’s reading ability was superior and she was gifted in terms of her spelling skills, her teachers had a “wow” feeling towards her. This gift of hers helped her to read sentences big and small, simple and complex. But her comprehension was at a much lower level. Hence, her strength of reading was being used to teach her language and comprehension both at school and at home. In school, academics was taken care of individually and also in small group set-ups.

For co-curricular activities, my daughter went to the mainstream class with support. Music and drama would be overwhelming for her causing her to run around or make noise, thus disrupting the rest of the class. Nevertheless, the staff in school were also trying and doing their best, keeping in mind the best interest of all children.

This was the reality no matter how painful it may feel…
When you know that your child’s behavior can cause disturbance to others, you can blame nobody….not the teachers, not the children in class, not us parents and definitely not the child.