‘Dancing to the beat of a different drummer’ by Kavita Shivdasani

More than two decades later my experiences among children with learning difficulties never fails to raise goose bumps. As senior facilitator in a reputed preschool in Bombay I was responsible for ensuring that all the young ones were at par with the program that prepared them for admissions into ‘big school’.

Nishant all of three and a half years old had a wonderful way with spoken English and it was a pleasure to interact with him. During a picture talk however when asked to point out the sheep in an outsized wall depiction of a typical farmyard, teeming with animals and characteristic ranch activities he was bewildered, his eyes darting all over the picture unsure where to point. Finally with his retrousse nose pressed against the chart he put his finger on a random spot.

Nishant neither had poor eye-sight nor did he not know what sheep looked like. He was exhibiting an archetypal response arising out of difficulties in Figure – Ground Perception. He was unable to focus his attention on the essential ‘figure’ (the sheep) without being distracted by unessential ‘ground’ (the rest of the farmyard animals and activities).

When trying to string large wooden beads with an outsize opening using a stiff-ended shoe lace Nishant was quiet perplexed why each time his hand moved past the bead leaving it unstrung, his intense concentration notwithstanding. The ‘oh – my - god’ look on his face was comic and heart rending all at once. This was a classic instance of poor eye-hand coordination.

My knowledge on the subject was pretty hazy in those days (and still is!) and so my explanation of Nishant’s academic pre-school progress was ham-handed to say the least. In hind sight when most of us have 20/20 vision I understand why his mother reacted indignantly and I was informed in no uncertain terms to ‘take a hike’.

Several years later a chance meeting bought me face to face with Nishant’s mother. As I stared at my bete-noire uncertain what to say she ended the impasse by simply stating ‘you were right’. Nishant had been lucky to gain admission into a reputed school in Bombay amongst the first to understand and accommodate with sensitivity youngsters who would thrive in an atmosphere where conservative teaching methods was not the priority.

Abhishek a 10 year old who attended my “Know Your Environment” sessions several years ago had an amazing ability when reading aloud passages to use suitable substitutes for specific words he was unable to read. So ‘tree’ was read as ‘garden’ and ‘shoes’ became ‘boots’. In technical parlance it would be termed as Dyslexia, I called it ‘pure genius.’

We live and learn about the world through our senses. Our visual, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory and gustatory senses when stimulated send messages to our brain. The brain interprets the incoming communication and immediately by return sends advice on how to react. In some cases this to-and- fro ‘wiring’ differs from the regular run of the mill ones and voila the person reacts in a way different to what is ‘accepted’, ‘conventional’ or ‘logical’. Children with unpredictable responses are smart or even smarter than their peers but can only thrive with the right support and intervention. Winston Churchill, Albert Einstien and Whoopi Goldberg are among some of the outstanding people who towered above these so-called limitations.

Youngsters who are labeled as Learning Disabled to me seem to be living in that inter tidal zone between high and low tide which is neither the deep blue sea on one side nor terra firma on the other.

In a fast paced world where academic achievement is the watchword and despite the advanced understanding of learning disabilities young persons pigeonholed thus find it a struggle to take joy in an environment so cut and dried.

A tragic off – shoot to the academic, parental and peer pressures are behavioural anomalies ranging from shyness to depression to aggression and a further falling behind in levels of expectation and achievement, sort of a Catch 22 situation with apparently no way out.

It is undoubtedly necessary to cater to the needs of a mass society because it is efficient, convenient and in fact necessary to maintain system and discipline. But in doing so it is also just as important to remember that some of us dance to the beat of a different drummer.

(Names of children changed to protect their identities)
26th September 2009