Making life easier for children with special needs

Pained by the plight of children with special needs (CWSN) who struggle to secure admission in mainstream schools, a group of doctors, social workers and educationists have devised innovative methods to overcome this problem and make life easier for them.
Children with special needs have found it increasingly difficult to get admission in mainstream schools. The national capital records admissions of over 1.5 lakh children on an average every year of which 5 to 10 percent fall in this category.
The group of doctors, social workers and educationists have come together to help such children secure admission and implement the cause of inclusive education, by improving teaching methodology for CWSN. They also want to ensure that these children are provided optimum need based skills.

"The idea is to appreciate the fact that "every child is equal and special" despite some showing deviations from regular milestones of development. The philosophy is to appreciate the diversity and encourage their interests to work towards the common goal of human development," said Dr Jitendra Nagpal, a senior consultant psychiatrist and In-charge Institute of Child Development and Adolescent Health. He also a member of the Inclusive education initiative (IEI).
However, he said if the gap between the child in question and the regular milestones of development is huge, then of course, such children need to be put up in special schools.

"But otherwise the IEI is all about helping every child with the prelude that different emotions and variations in development have to be cared and respected in a diverse classroom with individualised educational plans, upholding the supervision of an inclusive schools.
"The focus of schools is no more on child literacy or education, it is child development," Nagpal added.