Only those gifted with an ear for music can strum the sitar with such precision. Those gifted with a sense of rhythm can tap their feet to classical songs like these kids do. And the children from Central Institute on Mental Retardation (CIMR), Kerala, who performed at the National Museum in capital recently, indeed are gifted and special.
It was all a part of a two-day educational workshop for the mentally challenged students, which comprised lessons on painting, crafts and candle-making by expert Neha Juneja and lectures by Rev. Fr. Thomas Felix, founder of CIMR.
All children’s performances were much loved and appreciated. Arun, who is deaf and mute, and Pradeep were lauded for their dance performances, Abi and Akshay put up a dance recital in reverence of Lord Ganesha and Sachin and Abi performed a Kathakali piece while the orchestra comprising of eight artistes skillfully played complex musical instruments.
Informing about the disabilities of these children, Udayasankar from the CIMR, said, “These children suffer from slow co-ordination of mind and body. They are taught using Father Felix’s ‘3C’s’ approach that involves comprehension, competency and creativity. This unlike other methods, uses more of understanding to improve competency and enhance creativity. Once the child understands, he starts questioning and tackles problems creatively.”
The process engages all sense organs and enhances a special child’s multi-sensory inputs. “With an improved multi-sensory input, the child registers quickly, his motor, psycho-social, language and cognitive skills improve and he moves towards becoming a normal person,” adds another trainer.
For children with impaired motor-reactions, it is difficult to teach them activities that involve precise hand-eye co-ordination. “It’s a complex method, unlike teaching a class of 60 students the same syllabus. One has to understand each child’s level of learning. For instance, a slow-learning child who is also deaf-mute, was taught to read his coach’s lips when he said, ‘one, two, three, four’, and the child pushed the corresponding strings on the sitar. Slowly, the blood circulation to the child’s fingers improves, there is a surge of blood in the brain as well and he begins to recognise pain and tells us when his fingers hurt. So, day by day this threshold of pain increases and he is able to play for longer periods and unknowingly the blood circulation to his hands and fingers becomes normal,” informed Udayasankar, as the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) offered students from the team a chance to represent India as part of a team of performers going to China soon.