Down syndrome people need support from family, society

Chennai: V.Prabhakar, a Down syndrome patient, broke a stigma in proving even special children can take up skilful jobs.

He won a lot of accolades and received “Role Model Award” for special children in 2008. A national level gold medallist in cycling, Prabhakar also learned to play the keyboards and is quite enthusiastic about outdoor sports and plays cricket and football etc.

However, all these pleasant moments didn't come without facing difficult times. Those inevitably tough days were successfully crossed with the help of his family, especially his mother.

“When I came to know that he suffers from Down syndrome, I didn't lose my heart. I was determined to bring him up like any other child. I started learning about special education only for his growth and development. I enrolled myself for a psychological course in counselling, which I thought would help other parents like me get motivation and confidence,” said Parvathy Viswanath, mother of Prabakar.

Down syndrome is a condition that is caused by chromosomal abnormalities. It causes a person to be intellectually and physically disabled. Persons with Down syndrome take a lot of time to learn about basic training like eating, toilet training, walking, crawling, neck balancing and they have to be monitored closely in every stage of their development, failing which the development would be delayed further leading to disappointment and disconsolation to parents of the special children.

Talking about the tough time she faced as a parent, Parvathy said, “I learned how to accept things as they came to me. It was an accident and I couldn't blame my son nor could I blame myself for what happened”.

He started learning when a school picked him and teachers admitted that he could be trained as any other students. “But, I was not convinced and put him in special children's school in Chennai. He got an opportunity to work with a Titan watch. Later, he improved slowly but steadily,” she added.