Special children need special attention
Disabilities can be treated by parents’ love and care
Various research studies have concluded that more than six million children in Pakistan are deprived of education and learning support due to various forms of disability.
Denying disabled children their right to education is one of the greatest injustices and a violation of their fundamental human rights.
Musaab Ahmed Khan, 11 is a 4th standard pupil studying in ‘Apples Grooming School’. He has an extraordinary, sharp and creative mind and is a keen observer as well.
Before his birth, his mother had to face numerous problems in pregnancy. She was a patient of blood pressure and had fibre problem but there was no disability sign in the ultrasound.
After his birth he was having respiratory problem. He was forbidden to go to crowded and sandy areas but due to his grand mothers’ desires his father took him to their village and the child became sick there.
Since he was born he didn’t utter a single word up to the age of 5. Meanwhile, when he was 3 years old his mother decided to go on UMRAH along with her ten family members. By the grace of ALLAH and due to her strong belief during the visit to Makkah, the child recited ‘LA ILAHA ILLALLAH’ and rest of it in Madina i.e. ‘MOHAMMAD-UR-RASOOL ALLAH’. These were the first words articulated by the child.
After that, till the age of 5 he didn’t speak a single word. He even started crawling quite late.
He was a child with delayed growth. He had hearing problems in the beginning. He recovered from all the problems with the passage of time. He also had a speech therapy that helped him a lot but during his speech therapy he used to get irritated as he didn’t use to understand.
As a result he started to bite his mother. His father’s suggestion was to teach him with physical abuse whereas her mother was totally against it. During his disorder, her daughters were also of small age. But balancing everything was a challenge that she accepted. The foremast thing she had to do was to bring him into normal condition. None of the ordinary school was admitting him up till 6 years due to his disability.
He studied till 1st standard in a special school. He was supposed to be admitted in 2nd standard but the Apples Grooming School enrolled him in 1st standard once again. He is taught separately from the other students. He has a special single teacher as well and that too of his choice who teaches him and motivates him. The teacher is separately paid as well. He is very sharp and is a great student of mathematics. He is a straight forward child and is naturally very clever.
Here mother is quite relieved now as he is recovering fast. She had requested all such parents who have been chosen by Almighty to be the parents and guardians of these ‘special gifts’ – children born with disabilities – to have faith in Allah and try to give maximum amount of quality time to them so that they may be helped out in recovering fast from their natural deficiencies. To send these children to ‘special schools’ and ‘special homes’ is not the best of the solutions, at all.