The walk-out
There was a time when I was looking for a part-time job. I was undergoing fertility treatment and wanted something that would keep me occupied for a couple of hours a day. A friend sent me to this place which was a home-school for a small group of special needs children.
Though I accepted to take the English classes, I won’t say I was comfortable with what I was doing. My discomfort was based on an accepted foundation of discrimination, except that I didn’t realise it then.
How could I? It was my first encounter with something like this.
I was young, yet to see the world and all I knew was anything that was not “normal” had to be avoided, despised, laughed at, or even considered dangerous, this idea a result of the limited views that often go down from generation to generation without being questioned.
And then, there was the fertility thing. People advised me discontinue going there, what if I ended up getting pregnant with a child that had those afflictions? I fell for the fear that was instilled in me and I walked out.
I went on, after that, to work in “regular” stream schools and have had some great experiences too. Yet I couldn’t get over that walk out.
Over a period of time, “regular” schools started admitting students with special needs and I found myself sympathetic towards this move.
One academic year, my principal called me to her room to say she was assigning to me the responsibility of a particularly difficult SEN child because she felt only I would be able to handle him.
I walked out yet again, but this time with my head held high and love in my heart.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Feb 10, 2018)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/3068f491-5a11-4040-9965-80f7f1596fe3.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
Though I accepted to take the English classes, I won’t say I was comfortable with what I was doing. My discomfort was based on an accepted foundation of discrimination, except that I didn’t realise it then.
How could I? It was my first encounter with something like this.
I was young, yet to see the world and all I knew was anything that was not “normal” had to be avoided, despised, laughed at, or even considered dangerous, this idea a result of the limited views that often go down from generation to generation without being questioned.
And then, there was the fertility thing. People advised me discontinue going there, what if I ended up getting pregnant with a child that had those afflictions? I fell for the fear that was instilled in me and I walked out.
I went on, after that, to work in “regular” stream schools and have had some great experiences too. Yet I couldn’t get over that walk out.
Over a period of time, “regular” schools started admitting students with special needs and I found myself sympathetic towards this move.
One academic year, my principal called me to her room to say she was assigning to me the responsibility of a particularly difficult SEN child because she felt only I would be able to handle him.
I walked out yet again, but this time with my head held high and love in my heart.
Vidya Shankar
Published in The Gulf Today / Short Take, dt Feb 10, 2018)
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/3068f491-5a11-4040-9965-80f7f1596fe3.aspx
Here's my first book! An ensemble of poetry and photographs.
Click the link below to watch a 30-second promo video.
https://youtu.be/5BhbjMaIwpk
You can buy it at this link:
https://notionpress.com/read/the-flautist-of-brindaranyamwww.facebook.com
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