Educating young blind children for a better future

Zhafran has Growth Developmental Delay as well as some physical disabilities.

Zhafran had a normal birth but involvement in a motor-vehicle accident MVA) at the age of four months, left him with severe and traumatic head injuries.

He has right eye macular haemorrhage and bilateral hyperopia with astigmatism. Due to brain damage from the accident, he was also diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP).

Zhafran has a low vision and cannot walk independently. He is a talkative child although his speech is repetitive and slurred.

He has multiple disabilities but is much loved by all family members. However, before his enrolment into The Early Intervention Programme, Zafran’s mother had given up on her son’s condition, believing that nothing could be done to treat and make his life more meaningful.

Now, after enrolment in the Programme, there are signs of light and hope.

Initially Zhafran did not engage well with his teachers but over a period of time, began to ‘warm to’ and play with them.

He became actively involved with his physiotherapy activities to strengthen his lower limbs and improve balance. Zhafran also engaged in play therapies which improve cognitive, social and fine motor skills.

His teachers involved his parents, showing them how to help train Zhafran towards a more independent life for himself. After all, the child spends the most time with the parents. As time passed, significant improvement was seen in his gross motor skills. Zhafran was able to walk, his once poor balance now improved.

Zhafran is now able to socialise well with new individuals. His fine motor skills have also improved, he is able to manipulate small and larger objects.

His parents are happy, thankful that Zhafran can live his own special life alongside his siblings. This involvement of parents and teachers has played an important role in his development, his condition now the polar opposite of that first seen by his teacher on her first visit.

In addition to that, Zhafran’s own spirit and determination to show the world that his disabilities will not hinder him.

“Children with special needs are not sent to special parents; they make the parents special”.

• Zhafran_Fearless_Fight.docx (DOCX)

Positive Change of A Shy Boy

By Syafawati

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart” – Hellen Keller.

Have you ever imagine life without knowing how your parents’ face looks like? Raju was a premature baby born at 26 weeks of pregnancy due to leaking of amniotic fluid. He has been incubated for 100 days and he was diagnosed as retinopathy of prematurity with stage II-III. At the age of 5 months, he went for an operation which he has to remove his left retina. Raju is very close with his foremost love, his mother. He is very motivated and will never let his mother feel down.

Raju was enrolled in our Early Intervention Programme at age of 5. Raju’s condition was never an issue for his family who always love and take care of him; including his extended family members. They lived happily in their small paradise home which was aided by the government under the Poor People Housing Program. Raju’s mother is a fulltime housewife and the one who is responsible for taking care of Raju and 3 other siblings wellbeing. His father works as a security guard.

In spite of being born with no vision, Raju was able to move independently at the young age and is also able to interact well with his family members. Nevertheless, he was still very dependent on his family especially his mother for his daily routines and was very shy with strangers. His speech was also not coherent. Raju has difficulty understanding other languages except his mother tongue. Besides that, Raju has difficulty in differentiating shapes and counting. So his teachers have planned an Individual Educational Plan for him to improve his learning ability.

Despite of having learning difficulties, Raju never once gave up. His parents never stop him from exploring new things. They did their best to provide and fulfil Raju’s needs. Raju’s parents and teachers are always working together tirelessly to transform his life meaningfully. One of the significant improvements seemed recently was when Raju greeted and helped the teachers to carry the boxes into his house. His recent attitude was the direct opposite of what his teachers first met Raju where he hid behind his mother the entire time. Raju is able to sort the shapes and distinguish surfaces now!

Raju shows the world that his blindness is not a hindrance for him. Just like the quote by Hellen Keller which goes something like “A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.”

 Your strong support could make a big difference for Raju as the donations is used for buying new learning aid that would expand his learning experience.

Raju is sorting various shapes.

One of Raju’s Individual Education Plan goals is to be able to eat independently. So, the teachers taught him how to scoop his food correctly.

Raju is doing hand coordination activity. In this activity, Raju learned how to coordinate his 2 hands, counting the wooden poles and braille numbers.

Raju with his older sister, Bhavithra, 8 enjoying great moments together.

• Positive_Change_of_A_Shy_Boy.docx (DOCX)