One day you can be a singer or writer

This month is the time when I feel so down with regard to Abhi. Because July the school has Sports Day. Till 5th class, he was able to participate, because there were small games or some cultural dances, where he was given small roles. But from 6th onwards, its real sports, atheletics etc and Abhi cant participate in these. During the practice sessions, almost for 2 weeks, I used to send him story books for reading.

One day I almost cried, when he asked "Amma, why cant I also join?". Another sad part for him is , I opted him out of Scouts. I asked him to join choir. I always try to give positive replies, telling him that, "Everyone may not be good in everything. May be you can sing , write etc - One day you can be a singer or writer, if you concentrate on these". Though I tell such things, I can see and understand how bad my son must be feeling inside.

This is one disappointing thing I find when we include special needs children in normal stream. Atleast in India. Everyone still need to accept others in the society who are not as fast as themselves. I dream of someday, when everyone slows down a bit to give chance for such co-citizens. Not only in schools, but in all walks of life. Though there are many changes and awareness happening these days, I feel India is backward with regard to this.

Another year has gone by!

Another academic year has gone by and Abhi has been promoted to Class VII. Every year it is one my joyous moments, which words cannot express. Tommorow I have to pay the fees for class VII. Sometimes I still cannot believe this. Let me pray to GOD and thank him for all the helping hands he is giving.

GOD's hidden hands.

When every academic year starts, I will have anxiety, because Abhi will have new teachers. I will have to explain the problems to them and get excuses for his incompleted class works etc. Though by now most of the teachers know him.
This year, since he is now in middle school (!) he will have regular exams. The mid term exams he was not able to complete papers like English, History etc. The class teacher asked me to meet the Principal. With apprehension I enetered her room. But she is one of the very understanding and supportive teachers I have seen. She said she can give 1 hour extra time for Abhi for the exams, which the Govt themselves allows. If he is able to complete within that time then well and good. We will see for the quarterly exams how he fares. She was very encouraging in telling that she has seen much improvement in Abhi and if this doesn't work well, we will see what else can be done.
My mind became relaxed and I am now confident that Abhi will be able to write better.

I have complete faith in GOD and believe that this is his way of doing things.His hidden hands will be with us to Help when required.
Power of GOD is great!

Abhi started swimming lessons!

Every academic year, I get the same feeling, tension, anxiety etc. What the new teachers may tell... Whether they will accept abhi's difficulties. The start of this year, the new reason for my anxiety was that the school have made sports activity compulsory for every child from class VI onwards. The students will be taken to YMCA grounds, as the school do not have enough ground space for different sports like cricket, football etc.

With a heavy heart, I went to talk to the Principal. She said, Abhi can join swimming and try it out. May be it will do good for him.She said she has watched him for the past years and definitely he will enjoy with the other kids. He would not want to be left alone. Infact, her confidence on Abhi, was the real confidence booster for me. Also she said I can accompany to the pool if I feel so. I came out of the room, thanking God, that there are people around us who understand, support and care.
I talked with Abhi and he was excited about swimming. The first day, he was very much scared. Though the water level was upto the chest only, he was not having the grip of the feet. I talked with the coaches also. Let him learn in his own pace.

Water therapy is a very good for improving the muscle strength, coordination etc. It works on almost all the muscles i think. As the Prinicipal has told, it may be really good for Abhi.

Bird watching!

Start of this Summer vaccation , we had an unexpected opprtunity of bird watching from our terrace.

Abhi also enjoyed it. I think they were some type of herons. They have built their nests on the tamarind tree near our house. We could watch them from our terrace.

We used to go to the terrace in the evening, with snacks, water and all. Have a mini picnic there watching the birds. Sometimes Abhi's friends also join. We took many photos of the birds.