From The Diary Of A Mother Of An Autistic Child

A close friend has a down syndrome child. Unlike most Indian families where the husband is the bread-winner, in this case she had a better paying job. Since she was the mother, all eyes were on her. Her family strongly believed that she should give up her career and spend all her time with her son. However, she decided not to give up her job at the cost of facing flak from every single member of her family. She was criticised and was told that had she spent more time with her son he would have been better off. I remember her telling me once, teary-eyed, "If I don't pursue my career how will I fund the expensive therapies that my son has to go through everyday." Its over a decade since she shared this with me and my friend has gone places in her job. Her son is doing well within his limitations and has most importantly learnt to live independently. He isn't overtly dependent on his mother. Relatives continue to give free advice on how important it is for her to spend...

Last week I interviewed a senior media professional to get her insights for an article that I am working on. After getting done with the interview, I thought I should tell her about my blog. It turned out that apart from her media consulting firm she also ran a not-for-profit venture which supported causes related to the environment as well woman and child nutrition. When she told me that she was  looking at an inclusive set up for her not-for-profit venture, I didn't miss an opportunity to ask her if Anshul could intern with her for a couple of weeks after he finished his board exams in March this year. She at once agreed and I came back thrilled as I not just got a fantastic interview, I also managed to fix an internship for Anshul. The reason I am narrating this incident is because I have come across many parents of kids in the autistic spectrum who hesitate to talk about them. They are quite secretive and don't like talking about their kids limitations. But my point is ...