Special children at Ahead learn craft-making. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray

Twenty-year-old Titas Pal suffers from speech impairment but has a great sense of rhythm. As he sings and beats the table in sync, his friend Papia listens in awe.

Titas and Papia are classmates at Ahead, a school for mentally challenged, hearing impaired and autistic children. Started in 1979, Ahead helps special children overcome hurdles. The school has two sections: mental retardation (MR) and autism.

The MR section is further classified into playgroup, pre-primary, primary, secondary, pre-vocational and vocational. The teacher-student ratio here is 1:7, while in the autism section it is 1:2.

Autistic children have one-to-one sessions with teachers everyday. The faculty includes nine regular teachers, three volunteers, a psychologist, physiotherapist and a speech therapist.

The children here are categorised according to their age and grasping ability. Students are also trained in self-help skills like dressing and grooming, eating, activities of daily life like washing clothes and utensils, serving food, motor skills and co-curricular activities like music, art and craft. Besides, skills like cooking and book binding are also taught.

Says Asesh Banerjee Chowdhury, director and president of the school: “I was stricken with polio when I was two years old. Given the social conditions of the 1940s, I had to face a lot of obstacles. That motivated me to start Ahead for the mentally challenged, because they are the most vulnerable in society. If we make these children self-sufficient, we will consider ourselves successful”.

There are eight children in the autism section and 24 in MR at Ahead. “Autism is a neuro-developmental disorder and no two persons have the same problem. They are either hypo-active or hyper-active and we have to give them sensory stimulation to either elevate or reduce their reactions,” says Rina Guha, the head of the autism section. “An autistic child cannot hold his attention for more than 10 to 15 minutes initially. We have to give them breaks frequently,” she added.

Seven-year-old Abhirup Rajan, an autistic child, sneaks into the room and delights in spinning a chair. Rajan continues doing this till he is lured into his classroom with a chocolate. “Initially, we have to give them some incentive to make them work,” she explains.

Inside the autism classroom, there is a chart for each student. It has his/her photograph and the list of activities that the student has to perform, illustrated through drawings. “It is easier for them to learn through visual aids,” said Guha. US-based autism expert Dr Stephen Shore, on his first visit to Calcutta, shared some tips with the students of Ahead on August 27.

“Dr Shore asked us to make two charts, one depicting a house and the other depicting school. A box of students’ pictures should be kept nearby. As they come to school, children should be asked to identify their pictures and place it in the ‘school’ chart. As for the absentees, the rest of the class should be taught to place his/her photo in the “home” chart. This will make them realise that their friend has not come to school,” says Guha.

In the primary section stand a group of children, some with hearing impairment and some mentally challenged. But all are friendly, greeting any stranger with warmth. “Namaste”, said Saswati Das, a moderately challenged child. Her friend Munna Barik, sits in a corner drawing attentively. Praise his art and the boy breaks into a warm smile.

Little Saswati too takes pride in Munna’s work. “Munnar khata, dekho (see Munna’s drawing book),” she mutters. The camaraderie they share is as heart-warming.