Do ‘inclusive’ Indian universities/colleges actually have the mindset and desire to include?

 Do ‘inclusive’ Indian universities/colleges actually have the mindset and desire to include?

As a journalist, I meet lot of organisations talking about including people with disabilities into their workforce. This gives me hope as a mother that my soon-to-be 18-year-old could get an opportunity to work with a leading corporate or even a new-age start-up. We have already applied to a host of universities in India which call themselves ‘inclusive’, but it makes me wonder whether Indian universities and colleges will be able to churn enough talent who are differently-abled who India Inc could hire?   

Way back in 2007 when our son was three-years-old, we were running from pillar to post trying to find him a seat in a regular school. We were determined to mainstream him. While some of them politely refused an admission, the others were bold enough to admit that they were not capable of including a student on the Autism Spectrum. The only school which accepted him with open arms was Billabong High International Santacruz (BHIS). My son has been with BHIS all through and is now preparing for his 12^th boards. The wholehearted support of the teachers and the support staff was indeed commendable. We shall forever be grateful to BHIS for giving our son an opportunity to prove himself.

As he gets ready for university education, we find ourselves in the same boat as we were 15 years ago – most Indian universities and colleges are yet to have an inclusion policy. Some of them do include students with physical disabilities, but including students on the spectrum is a far cry. I was happy to see application forms of some institutions enquiring if the candidate had any disabilities. It is indeed a move towards an inclusive approach but I am not sure if they are ready to actually include. An upcoming university in South India which calls itself an ‘alternative’ university with a clear strategy of inclusion didn’t even invite our son for the entrance process and upon speaking to them I realised they have never included students with Autism and were hence skeptical.  

Including a student with disability would require a special needs team to hand hold the student to sail through. The university has to be willing to ignore the student’s marksheet. My son, for instance, is good with numbers and hence we see scope in a career in data sciences for him. His scores in Math would be decent compared to other subjects. He would also need some extra one-on-one time with the faculty as regular classroom learning could get overwhelming for him. I am not sure Indian universities talking about inclusion are ready to go that extra mile. We faced the same problem with schools and some of them are now beginning embrace students with autism or other intellectual difficulties (most schools are just about soaking their feet in the water, and have miles to go before calling themselves truly ‘inclusive’.)

I met an educational counsellor who told me that he had placed students with autism in Indian universities. Within 10 minutes of the conversation, I realised that the person was talking about placing students with mild learning disabilities. Learning disability and Autism Spectrum are not synonymous.

A person on the Autism Spectrum has social skill challenges too. He/she would therefore need an environment where the students as well as the faculty are sensitised. Most global universities have a ‘Buddy System’ wherein a senior or a class fellow, shadows the student.

There is a lot of chatter around people on the Autism Spectrum being immensely gifted. However, not everyone is lucky to show off his/her talent. I often hear and read about autistic music prodigies or number wizards, but do these people really carve a livelihood for themselves? I am quite sure their fame is momentary. People with Autism just like anyone else need an environment where they can learn and flourish and I really hope Indian universities take cognizance of this. After all, they could be nurturing a genius who could make them proud.

However, having an inclusive set would need a huge mindset change and Indian universities need to embrace change at the earliest. As far as our son is concerned, we are keeping our fingers crossed that we find at one at least one institution which would guide him towards his north-star. The search is on!  

(I am a full-time journalist with Fortune India and a round-the-clock, proud mother. You could reach me at ajitas02@gmail.com or WhatsApp me at 9820201171)