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May 01, 2020 | Rashmi Singh Parmar

It is hard to understand how it feels to live with disability or to parent a child who has special needs – unless one has walked in their shoes.

Many believe that persons with intellectual and developmental challenges may not be able to function in society or cannot meet the physical or emotional demands of life. People believe that they cannot cope up with the challenges of daily life or that they cannot hurdles and may not be able to contribute to the society as normal people could be. These myths have somehow built a stereotype and have occupied a strong hold on people’s minds. They fail to realize that just like any other human being who when given support performs well in any task in which otherwise they do not; even people with challenges if given a little care, attention, affection and love can bring about a transformation both in their lives and in the lives of others and in society as a whole. In fact, perhaps their contribution could be much greater than others, the so-called ‘normal’ people.

A change in the thought horizon of people is urgently needed. They must become sensitive towards the needs of these people, the basic needs which everyone craves for, that is love, care and affection. The support and power of these can help them grow. Although Bollywood and Hollywood have put in efforts to bridge this awareness gap through movies like Taare Zameen Par, The Kid from Nowhere, Bill on his Own and many more, yet the change is yet to take palce in the mindset of our society.

There are many Non-Government Organizations working out there for the welfare and the needs of many such lives. I have been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to work with one such named Amrit Foundation of India, New Delhi. This chance has given me the time to personally experience the lives of people with challenges closely. I got the opportunity to interact with them which opened up my mind to see even everyday occurences of life from a different point of view – a point of view which would never have passed my mind. I got to experience firsthand that how special people with challenges are, their thoughts and their courage. They have more resilience and will power than other (normal) person inspite of their ‘weaknesses’. They perform even the smallest of the work with dedication and perfection, and give all taks their very the best.

The internship has been a great learning experience for me. Not only was I able to understand the needs of those with challenges, I also learnt how I one can view life from other perspectives. I learnt that one can achieve great goals by having a never-give-up attitude and displaying strength and courage in all situations in life. Being aware of ones weknesses perhaps makes you even more determined to do everything possible to perform even the smallest work with ultimate perfection.

My deepest and warmest wishes go out to all the lovely children that I met. I sincerely wish that somebody somewhere out there, who needs the care and affection can receive it from their loved ones. I wish that they never feel rejected or neglected but feel only love as this can bring great changes in the world.

About the author

Rashmi Singh Parmar is a finance student pursuing her PGDM course from Fortune Institute of International Business, Delhi. She has completed a graduation in commerce.