funpics

What is it that makes
 them stand out among the crowd?
 
Their ever smiling faces?
 
The excited expression on learning
new effortless little things?

Or
is it simply the astounding struggle with life,
 that they exchange blows, with so much ease,
 that we rarely stop to think how strong they must be,
 to be able to battle it out with life and
 yet live like as if it is not a big deal?

Maybe that is why
these angels are called
'specially abled children',
because
we can never be truly as special as they are.

Who are specially abled children?
The definition of specially abled given by the
United Nations is:
 "A person unable to ensure by himself or herself,
 wholly or partly, the necessities of normal individual
and/or social life as a result of deficiency,
either congenital or not,
 in his or her physical or mental capabilities."

Most of the specially abled children
 have a disability or physical impairment,
chronic illness, or mental retardation.

There are four types of disabilities among children:
mental retardation; hearing impairment;
 visual impairment and orthopedic impairment.




But out of all this,
autism
which is caused mainly due to mental retardation
is the most affecting disability.

Autism is a complex developmental disability
that typically appears during the first three years of life.

The result of a neurological disorder,
autism is four times more prevalent in
boys than girls and knows no racial,
ethnic or social boundaries.




According to a survey, in India one in
approximately 500 children is born autistic,
quite a number to reckon with,
 And the saddest part is that there is no complete cure
for autism as of now.

Kids with autism typically have trouble maintaining
eye contact and reading social signs such as facial expression,
 body posture and gestures.

According to studies 90 percent risk of autism is hereditary.
Assuming a shared environment and no
other genetic or medical syndromes.



However,
most of the mutations that increase the probability
of autism have not been identified.

Environmental factors that have been claimed
 to contribute to or worsen autism,
or may be important in future research,
 include certain foods, infectious disease,
heavy metals, solvents, diesel exhaust,
 PCBs,
 phthalates and phenol used in plastic products,
pesticides, brominates flame retardants,
 alcohol, smoking, illicit drugs, and vaccines.




Autism also occurs due to other reasons some being:
genetic disorders.




About 10- 15 percent of autism cases have
an identifiable genetic syndrome;
mental retardation which is again divided as mild retardation,
mild to moderate retardation, and intense retardation;
 and epilepsy with variations in risk of epilepsy due to age,
cognitive level, and type of language disorder.




Handling autistic children is not an easy task;
 it requires a lot of love,
compassion and the most essential thing- patience,
as Meher a home maker puts it
"It gets very difficult occasionally and there are times
 I lose my temper, but then my child is all that I have got,
and is nothing short of a blessing to me,
he has taught me to accept life,
and live every moment happily".



With a loving family that supports them,
children with autism have been seen to make great strides,
kudos to all those amazing parents and supporting families,
who have and will stand by their kids.



Marilyn French puts it very beautifully in words
 "To nourish children and raise them against odds is in any time,
any place, and more valuable than to fix bolts
 in cars or design nuclear weapons."