Special school started by two Mumbai mothers growing by leaps and bounds

We catch Reshmy Nikith during what is perhaps the busiest time of the year in her calendar It is a week before the beginning of the new academic year ldquoI donrsquot know whether my two kids are excited about returning to school but I certainly amrdquo she laughs Her friend Gauri is not able to join us mdash she is held up at a college in connection with a shortterm course her son hopes to take ldquoToday is a wonderful dayrdquo says Gauri when we finally catch upCofounder of Little Hearts Learning Center Reshmy Nikith with her son Neel PicSatyajit DesaiReshmy and Gauri are parents of kids with special needs but thatrsquos not what sets them apart from the average parent They are also the founders of the littleknown Chemburbased school for kids with special needs Little Hearts Learning Center And this academic year is doubly special to the duo as over the holidays the school underwent its first major expansion When the school reopens on June 15 it will offer a host of new services such as music and dance therapy sports as a subject physical activities such as skating and cycling and modern learning tools such as iPads and smart boards among others ldquoWe have seen children learn faster with technologyrdquo says ReshmyReshmy Nikith at her house in Chembur PicSatyajit Desai Against the tideAt the age of twoandahalf months Reshmyrsquos son Neel contracted meningitis ldquoThe doctors told me that his milestones will be delayed So we were prepared for itrdquo she remembers But what she wasnrsquot prepared for was the absolute lack of support from playschools when it was time to enroll Neel in school ldquoWhen I went for interviews they gave lame reasons such as the kids will not be comfortable with each other That really upset me If we expose small children to such schools early on they learn a lot of things They learn to verbalise and develop social skills much faster But the schools didnrsquot want to take the initiative although their guidelines state that they should admit kids with special needsrdquoFour schools in Chembur refused to admit Neel ldquoI didnrsquot sleep that night Finally at 4 am the next morning I decided to start a school I wanted to provide the right environment for my son I went and spoke to my father inlaw about it He immediately supported me by providing me with the premises by converting a garage cum shoprdquo remembers Reshmy who has done a course in preprimary education She discussed the idea with Gauri who is a special education teacher and the two opened the school in June 2009Students from the centre during a field tripThe aim was to open a holistic centre where kids and their parents could spend time together ldquoAt that time parents had to travel to multiple centres for therapies That was very difficult and hardly any centres in Chembur offered multiple services under one roof thenrdquo elaborates ReshmyGauri explains that they have so far managed to integrate nine kids into mainstream schools ldquoWe have also tied up with Aditya Vidya Mandir school Chembur where our kids participate in their social events such as Diwali functionsrdquo adds GauriMajor hiccups involve the lack of space and funding issues ldquoInitially we didnrsquot have funds to hire teachers and parents even volunteered to teach We have never advertised and news about our school spread via word of mouth We didnrsquot want to charge the parents an exorbitant fee because as mothers of children with special needs we knew how expensive therapies can get But luckily we were supported by othersA friend who ran a playschool for instance offered her place and she didnrsquot charge us anything for itrdquo says Reshmy Such goodwill has also made it possible for the school to own a LCD TV and computers ldquoLots of people helped us out with our expansion project financially and we are grateful for itrdquo adds Reshmy She also points out that if mainstream schools accepted the children there would be no need for special needs schools ldquoA couple of my studentsrsquo parents had to withdraw them from mainstream schools as they got lost in a class of 60 students They need individual attentionrdquo she points outFuture plansThe duorsquos future plans include converting the centre into a residential school run by parents where children are given vocational training ldquoThat is my goalrdquo says Reshmy while Gauri says they hope to change the name of the centre to lsquoacademyrsquo ldquoI involve my son in various activities like being involved in kitchen work and lighting the matchstick to light an incense stick The future looks scary to parents of kids with special needs but although my son may not be completely independent he should be able to look after his needs at least partiallyrdquo concludes Reshmy