Let us share the story of Simarpreet Singh, a 13 year old student at our Centre for Inclusive Education. In the year 2018 when he was 8 years old, he was enrolled at our Special Teaching Unit. He was a cheerful, happy child notwithstanding his condition of cerebral palsy (spastic quadriplegia with associated speech impairment), and he soon adjusted with the rest of the class and was participating in all the activities. He seemed to enjoy coming to the Centre.
Then came the pandemic, and much of the progress that he made was undone during the lockdown that confined him at home for 2 whole years! Although we held regular online sessions during the difficult days of the pandemic, he did not attend the classes regularly and he gradually began to lose his connect with us at Shishu Sarothi. The disconnect from active interactions caused by the prolonged lockdown had a negative impact on many children and we know that socio-emotional development, is important for all children, and more so for children with disabilities like cerebral palsy and high support needs, whose condition traps them in their ‘disobedient’ bodies making them vulnerable and lonely. Simarpreet was also impacted by the lockdown and its suspension of social interactions leading to a regression in his abilities.
Once the pandemic eased up and physical classes were resumed at the Centre, Simarpreet started coming to the Centre along with other children. He was older now and had been moved to the Leisure Learning Unit. We found him detached and unable to adjust and adapt to the changed and new classroom environment. He was constantly crying, and it was nearly impossible for anyone to pacify him other than his father. Simarpreet is very close to his father, he likes to visit his father’s shop. He would cling on to him and wanted to be with him all the time. He would only stop weeping when he saw his father during recess time. Things got more difficult and we began to despair about his situation.
Eventually, our teachers started to find ways to get the old Simarpreet back. We yearned to see the old smiling Simarpreet again. Our teachers were learned about a strategy called the Pathways and Resources for Engagement and Participation (PREP) strategy. They did an F words Assessment for him. The 6 F Words Fun, Family, Fitness, Function, Friends and Future are domains under which a child’s growth development is worked upon. We conferred amongst ourselves and started working actively on Simarpreet’s communication skills and had conversations with his parents too and found that he was interested in sports and games. After talking to his parents, we selected “Future” as his priority domain. His father hoped that we could teach him a sport that could enable him to participate in special sports programs at the local, state or perhaps national level or maybe at the Olympics level!
His class teacher gave him the role of the captain in all classroom activities to motivate him. A picnic was organized for the students and the parents and he seemed to be very happy at the picnic, thoroughly enjoyed playing all the games that were conducted.
Together the class teacher, along with his parents, the physiotherapist, the games/sports teacher started working on Simarpreet to enable him to play Boccia. The worked on his posture and gross and fine motor skills. He was taught to hold and push the ball with his hands, improve his grasping and releasing abilities, have better head control, recognize colours, learn and follow the rules of the game. We knew that his receptive language skills were good, because he understands everything that others say and was able to follow instructions of his teachers and parents. He still has difficulty with physical activities, and is currently availing physiotherapy, and yoga at the centre. In addition to the special education inputs, at home, his parents have also hired a therapist to help with daily exercises.
Slowly, Simarpreet began participating in the classroom and sports related activities. His crying stopped and he was smiling again.
In the last few months, Simarpreet’s gross & fine motor skills, cognitive skills, and speech have improved considerably. Simarpreet is enthusiastically learning to play Boccia a sport designed for sportspersons like Simarpreet with significant limitations in arm and leg functions, and trunk control. The game allows for the use of a ramp and a sports assistant for those who are unable to consistently grasp or release the ball and propel the ball into the field of play. So, we are teaching him to release the ball over a ramp. He can now identify the colour of the ball, measure the target area with the help from his teacher in order to throw the ball.
We are hopeful that he will get better and working hard to prepare him to take part in this paralympic sport at the local and state level in course of time.