Grit in the face of multiple disabilities

23.12.2015, From a state of helplessness, I. Nivetha has scripted success. Dressed in blue jeans and checked short blouse with her hair held in place with clips, Nivetha focuses on creating trinkets from an assortment of colourful beads. In less than 10 minutes she can make a necklace.

Nivetha is certified as having cerebral palsy (80 per cent) and total hearing loss. “She was born a normal child but at the age of two she developed fever and the doctor administered an injection. The child collapsed immediately. It was a slow recovery after that. Though she did not lose her mental faculties, she stumbled while trying to walk and lost her hearing faculty,” recalls her father Ilayapandian, of the 25-year-old incident.

“It took us 10 years to accept that she may never recover fully. We tried admitting her to special schools. One school said she was too intelligent for them; another rejected her as she had only profound hearing loss. Finally a private mainstream school agreed to admit her,” says her mother Vanitha Pushpam.

Nivetha completed primary school without learning much. Her parents admitted her to a corporation school. But when she turned 13, the school told them it could not take care of her. Nivetha spent a few years at home until the National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities (NIEPMD) was set up.

It was the best thing that happened to her. The institute trained her to walk and taught skills. “Initially I wanted to train her to use computers so she could be gainfully employed. At the school they taught her to string beads and crochet. In the last 10 years there has been a remarkable improvement in her. She is confident, independent and she can walk without help,” Ms. Vanitha says.

Nivetha is now employed as a trainer at the institute.

On December 3, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented her with ‘Best Employee with Multiple Disabilities National Award (Female)’. “That day as I sat in the function I felt there was no difference between her and me as the entire programme was in Hindi and I couldn’t understand a word,” Ms. Vanitha recalls.