Hardly a handicap

Eleven-year-old Vikram giggles away like a happy child. You look at him and he gives you that endearing smile that warms up your heart an...

Eleven-year-old Vikram giggles away like a happy child. You look at him and he gives you that endearing smile that warms up your heart and then probably goes back into his own world, as most children do. But, he8217;s not like most children. He8217;s different. He8217;s a quot;profoundquot; case of mental retardation. Don8217;t mistake his smile for an acknowledgement of your presence, he is in a world of his own and his mental age is 1 year.

Mental retardation refers to the arrested growth or incomplete and slow development of the mind at any time during childhood or before physical maturity. This makes the child lag behind his peers due to limited motor development, limited powers of perception, comprehension and communication. Associated behavioral problems include hyper-kinetic syndrome or restlessness and hyperactivity, aggression, lying and stealing.

For children who already have so much to contend with, denial or delayed acceptance of the situation by the parents only serves to aggravate their already miserable plight. Rajan Verma, 22, has a mental age of six years. He is docile, quiet and could easily pass off as a normal child except that he is severely retarded and untrainable because he was not administered professional help at an early age. The result: he8217;s incapable of even self-care. quot;Parents usually go through a cycle of denial, understanding and eventually acceptance,quot; says Dr Chavan, HOD, Psychiatry at GMCH.

Research shows that systematic training is successful in helping these kids learn some behavioral and educational aspects, provided the targets are realistic. Besides becoming self-sufficient, they can also learn to control their destructive behaviour. quot;Parents have to be patient. Active involvement of the children in constructive tasks will help channelise their energy,quot; says Usha Grover, a trainer at the Regional Training Centre for Mentally Handicapped, Delhi.

Practical training for the parents is the first step towards improving the lives of these children, says Dr Reeta Peshawaria of the National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped NIMH, Secunderaad. The developmental lag in these children increases with increase in chronological age. Good training helps parents to develop their child to the optimum.

Beginning with the acceptance of the fact that there is no cure for the disorder, the focus has to be on what and how much these kids can be taught to make their lives easier.Now we have a number of institutes for these children that can help them and their family.

The Govt Institute for the Mentally Handicapped Children, Chandigarh, is among them.