SMS Children with learning disabilities

The following is a report we have received from our Child Protection Officer at our school.
Any comment \ suggestions are welcomed. rupa@fflvrindavan.org

For the first time SMS has had to send some children home.
It was not in any way a punishment for these children, who are absolutely unable to sit still and participate in classroom activities and the disruption they create affects all the other children and of course the teacher. We made it clear to their parents that this was not a punishment and definitely not a permanent step.

Most of these children are severely beaten at home by one or both of the parents.
Beatings are common as the parents are perpetuating a cycle – they too were beaten when they were children.

We asked the parents of these children to give them proper attention for sometime.
All these so called difficult kids were over disciplined at home and this was causing them to be disruptive in school.

Ananda ( six) and Rukmini (8)were amongst those sent home temporarily.

When Ananda’s father came to see us he broke down.
His wife is promiscuous, he alleges. She lashes out at the children regularly.
Ananda was hit, just above his left eye with a rolling pin by his mother a year ago.
This head injury may in fact be responsible for his behavior. This was suspected by our Doc. who takes care of the children’s health.
We decided to send both Ananda and his sister Rukmini to a hospital for a brain
Scan. (EEG)
In the meanwhile the wife had gone back to her parent’s home and taken Rukmini with her.
Ananda has been for a brain scan . The reports show abnormalities and from Monday he will be taking medication under Dr Lila ,a qualified Neuro Surgeon.
We have decided to put Ananda back in the nursery with his teacher there , who says she will be able to take care of him as she knows him from when he first came to us.
He is clearly one of those that we will have to have a special needs classroom for.

Three of the other children that had stayed home for a week have been taken back and are now adjusting well, except for one child whom we will also send for some tests.

One of the boys Banwari’s mother is a widow and was unable to spend anytime with him. She was given a weeks pay, asked to quit her job and be with her son. We are now employing her at our sewing centre for twice as much as she was making milking cows and cleaning which did not give her anytime with Banwari.
Now she comes to school with him, attends her classes and does some sewing for the school children. After school they both go home together.
Banwari is now more settled in the temporary special class we have created for the children that were not coping.

We also want to make some special classes for children who are gifted and hope to do this after the summer.