Special needs parenting in India

Special needs parenting in India

Parenting a child with a special needs, whether it’s a physical disability, a learning disability, an emotional challenge, or a developmental disorder, can necessitate the acquisition of specific skills, such as care giving or advocacy, as well as time and energy commitment that can jeopardize careers, marriages, and relationships with other children. Over the years parenting has been studied far and wide by researchers. However, in recent years, we have seen this parenting research has put more focus on positive approaches. It has evolved into outcome-based rather than risk-based. While each child’s needs are unique, the experts’ advice to parents is the same: do not let your own physical and emotional health deteriorate.

Being a Special needs parent is a huge responsibility. Being a parent comes with a lot of obligations. According to India’s 2011 census data, there are 20,42,887 disabled people in the country. There are 4,17,657 people with visual disabilities, 4,76,075 people with hearing disabilities, 1,96,890 people with movement disabilities, 1,14,621 people with speech disabilities, 91,673 people with mental retardation, 16,350 people with mental illness, 1,49,211 people with multiple disabilities, and 5,80,410 people with other types of disabilities. We can see from the data that India has a big number of people with special needs.

In India, it is estimated that three million people suffer from Autism Spectrum Disorder. Other issues, such as Cerebral Palsy or genetic illnesses such as Down Syndrome, might have an impact on a person’s physical and cognitive development.

What does it mean to have a child with special needs?  

Physically disabled, mentally challenged, speech and language impaired, emotional disability, and learning disability can all be examples of special needs children.

1. Physical disabilities: Epilepsy, eye issues, hearing impairments, and persistent asthma are examples of physical disabilities.

2. Mentally challenged: This term encompasses conditions such as cognitively delays and deviance, some syndromes like Down syndrome etc.

3. Speech and language impairment: It relates to issues such as being unable to adequately communicate and speak.

4. Emotional impairment: It is defined as being antisocial and unable to express one’s emotions.

5. Learning disability: A learning disability is a condition in which a child’s mind is unable to process information from his or her senses.

Parents of children with special needs have five distinct needs.

Here’s a brief list of things that may ring true for Special needs parenting deal with the ups and downs of life with a child who is considered “special” for whatever reason:

1. You, too, are deserving of attention.  

We are frequently put in situations where we must care for others. Asking friends or relatives to bring you dinner every now and then, getting a pedicure, going on a date night, or whatever else you enjoy doing are all examples of this. Take the time to savor whatever makes you feel special and cared for.

2. Support and self-care   

Parents who have children with special needs are typically fatigued and unhappy. Their self-care resources and time are depleted even more than those of parents of average children. However, they have a greater demand for recharging. It is critical for parents to care for their own needs in order to stay afloat during the marathon of caring for a child with special needs. This website contains important information on taking care of oneself and one’s well-being.

3. You’re a superhero, after all.  

You may not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound or run faster than a bullet, but you are still a superhero. You deal with problems that a typical parent would consider impossible on a daily basis. Stretching stiff muscles, remembering medications, injecting and infusing medicine are all things you do. During gruesome medical procedures, you hold hysterical children. You have to cope with temper tantrums and meltdowns. And you almost always avoid throwing a tantrum or melting down yourself.

You urge your child to do things that experts said they’d never be able to achieve, but you never gave up hope. You’re a therapist, a nurse, a doctor, a friend, and a confidante all rolled into one. You’re not your typical parent.

4. Play is a form of therapy.  

I’ve learned, developed, and come to realize a lot since then. Therapy is play for children, and play is therapy. What I mean is that the greatest therapists can persuade my kid to participate in tough exercises that he would otherwise avoid by turning them into a game that he enjoys. We followed in their footsteps and did the same at home.

5. Make time for your children.  

We super parents are notoriously busy and over scheduled. While everything on your calendar is important, you should also set aside time to play, laugh, be foolish, and simply enjoy your children. Read to them, cuddle with them, and discuss what’s important in their lives. Outside of the hospital, make memories.

List of government institutes in India that cater for Special needs 

• All India Institute of Speech & Hearing, ( AIISH) Mysuru

• National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities (NIEPVD)

• Ali Yavar Jung National Institute of Speech and Hearing Disabilities (AYJNISHD)

• National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities  (NIEPID)

• National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD)

• Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya National Institute for Persons with Physical Disabilities (PDUNIPPD)

• Swami Vivekanand National Institute of the Rehabilitation Training and Research (SVNIRTAR)

• National Institute for Loco motor Disabilities (NILD)

• Indian Sign Language Research & Training Centre (ISLRTC)

• National Institute of Mental Health and Rehabilitation (NIMHR)

List of Indian schools for children with special needs 

Knowing the benefits of attending a specialist school, we’ve listed eight options below to support you further:

Nalanda Foundation, first

By providing a welcoming environment that values learning diversity and encourages academic, social, and personal advancement, NLFP educates students with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders. They provide a safe learning environment both physically and emotionally.

Because there are 15 students in each category, everyone may receive specialised attention. In addition to this, they offer services like counselling and remediation in addition to information created by qualified teachers.

Integrated School of Aditya Birla

The goal of this school is to help students reach their full potential while fostering traits like amity, boldness, honesty, and sincerity in order to create learners who are content, confident, balanced, and self-sufficient. This facility provides special kids with an exclusive special education programme that highlights their subpar skills and helps them compete.

Six speech training programmes are available at the TABIS campus, which is equipped with resources like language therapy labs, sensory integration gyms, audio-visual aids, and much more. Therefore, the ultimate goal is to build a body of knowledge and skill in the area of unique learning requirements in order to give parents, teachers, and professionals in this sector with specialised educational plans, information services, resources, counselling, and therapeutic treatments.

Vidyaniketan public School

Teaching students with learning disabilities may require additional personalisation and a well prepared programme. To guarantee these, Vidyaniketan has made progress. It makes the claim that it combines learning style expectations for the comfort of special kids. Students receive prompt analysis of their updates and guidance as necessary.

Aatman Academy

This Thane, Maharashtra-based institution makes the claim to be one of the top ten for students who have some learning compromises. The school first started off by teaching students with LDs. Later, after 10 years, they grew and also started serving additional special needs students.

The school has an inclusive learning curriculum that supports each student in a different way because they recognise that every child is unique.

Heritage Xperiential Learning School

This institution, which has its base in India’s NCR, aims to mould the nation’s residents who struggle with learning. This school makes the claim that it works on a high-quality education programme, where each child’s learning capacity is closely watched so that they can be inculcated appropriately. Children with special needs can learn at their own pace thanks to the school’s special needs programme.

Parenting is a challenging journey and more so, when you are parenting children with special needs. When we place importance on factors like that, we make our roles as parents more challenging. It is important to note that the change in our lifestyle also demands a change in our approach. So what if we start treating children with unconditional love?  That means loving them for who they are instead of loving them for behaving your way. Among private clinics 1SpecialPlace is an organization which provides best online speech therapy in india.