Developmental Challenges

Dr Renuka Nambiar, based in Malaysia talks about her son Sanjeev, who was diagnosed with Autism when he was 4 years old. She talks about all the love and effort the family put together to make Sanjeev a person of his own today. Please tell us a bit about your son’s condition: Sanjeev was born in 1994. He was diagnosed Autistic with comorbid Epilepsy when he was 4 years old. What were the early symptoms? He was a normally developing child who reached all his developmental milestones on time,…

Not all superheroes wear capes! Nikita Bakhshi appreciates her mother Anupama, not only for all that she has done for her brother, Pranav who is on the autism spectrum but also for the unconditional love she shares with her daughter. A Mother’s Day special! Mother’s Day, or let me say ‘I will post a picture with a long caption day’ – Hold your horses. I’m not saying that’s wrong, I very often post pictures with my mom on my instagram too and shower her with instagram PDA, nobody deserved it…

Ajit Bharathan from Mysore talks about his son Amar, who is on the autism spectrum, the changes his wife and he made to help Amar become independent and a committed worker, valued by his employer. Please tell us a bit about your son. Amar was born in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E, in 1986. He is autistic. He is quite well built,  tall and almost 6 feet. He is independent but lacks speech even though he has reasonably good comprehension and follows simple commands. He has difficulty in forming sentences…

Children's books are instrumental in shaping early thoughts and perceptions. Chitra Paul, mom to a teenager on the autism spectrum painstakingly lists 20 Indian books that feature children and young adults with disability. Books that must be read by every child. As a child I don’t remember reading very many books with Indian characters or even those that featured disabled characters. The few books with Indian characters or stories about India were those by Ruskin Bond or Amar Chitra Katha comic…

Sagar Shanbhag, a professional swimming coach, who has started a swimming program for children with special needs, says that while any exercise is good, swimming is particularly beneficial for development of their attention, focus, learning, sensory processing and social skills. Could you tell us little bit about yourself and how you started teaching swimming to special needs children? I went to the US to pursue a graduate degree. After I finished, I got a job near Washington, D.C. One day,…

Sunita Mohanty, 48 from Bhubaneshwar shares her journey as a mother of a son on the autism spectrum, dealing with the social isolation and pity and the journey through denial and frustration to acceptance.  Siddhant was diagnosed with PDD in August 2000. Pervasive Development Disorder was simply a term which signified that the child’s cognitive, social and communication developmental milestones were lagging behind and were used to indicate an autistic spectrum disorder. What were the…

Diana Tholoor, a Movement and Theatre trainer and Director of Plays recently worked with a cast of 50 children and young adults on the autism spectrum to mount a production of Jungle Book on stage. She shares her perspective in the second part of this interview series.  1.   Why theatre? How does theatre help children and adults on the autism spectrum? Theatre is an integrated art form that produces simultaneous results through a single production. Amongst the many alternate…

A video case study of Om Pawar, a young boy who is non verbal and has intellectual disability and how he has benefited from multi-disciplinary interventions including digital technologies and animal assisted therapy.  Children on the Autism Spectrum struggle with social communication challenges and challenging repetitive behaviours. For children like Om who have Intellectual Disability and who are on the Autism Spectrum, life is that much harder.  Om's journey has been fraught with…

Pranav Kumar Rajgopal is on the Autism Spectrum and works as a Business Analyst in a technology firm. He shares lessons he has learnt based on his experience. His advice to others on the autism spectrum and their parents.  1. Never force your children to do something they are not interested in doing. Every child is unique and special. They may have an interest in pursuing drawing, painting, and creative craftwork, or pursue hobbies and passions in music and dance. Autistic children may…

Ganesh Anantharaman reflects on his journey as a father of a teenager on the autism spectrum and coming to terms with the toughest question for an autism parent - What after us?  The toughest parenting question My son Ananth just turned 17. Each birthday, along with being a source of joy and celebration about how far he has progressed since his diagnosis and ongoing treatment from the time he was just 1.5 years old, is simultaneously also a source of many new questions and attendant…