Doing it the other way round; Sai Yuvishka

“It was a struggle to keep up with her,” says Sai Yuviksha’s mother, Samundeswari. A child with multiple disabilities, Sai joined Satya Special School as a 3-year-old girl, just before the lockdown. When she joined Satya, she would walk fast, without even looking at what was in front of her. She wouldn’t sit in one place and would keep moving around during school. She never maintained eye contact, and would be lost in her own world. She wouldn’t respond to commands either. “Her mother used to do everything for her,” says J. Vasuki, her class teacher. Satya’s goal was to get Sai to perform her own Activities of Daily Living (ADL), which were all done by her single mother. After many therapy sessions, Sai now sits in one place for some time, and recognizes and communicates with her friends, albeit minimally. She is on her way to be able to take care of her own ADLs. One of the major challenges was to get her to suck liquids from a glass, one of the building blocks of self-feeding. When the teacher realized that in Sai’s mind “Suck” meant “Spit” and vice versa, she changed her technique: instead of getting her to change her understanding, Vasuki just changed the language. She would say “suck” when she wanted her to spit and “spit” when she wanted her to suck! It has worked so well! This, at a micro level, exemplifies what we are trying to do: changing ourselves so that people with disabilities can fit in, and not the other way around!