With a vision to create a society which accepts and support children with special needs (CwSN) to fully realize their potentials, “Beautiful minds, centre for child development” was inaugurated on Wednesday in Kohima.
Chairman of Nagaland Khadi & Village Industries Board, Dr. Neiphrezo Keditsu inaugurated the centre at Kohima, opposite to Lozi Hyundai Showroom, New Secretariat road on Wednesday. The centre founded by Apila Rulho and her husband Kezhaleo Rulho along with audiologist & speech pathologist Henwasin Sweety Lorin aims to raise awareness about the lesser known child disorders such as autism specturm disorder, ADHD, childhood aphasia, learning disability, down’s syndrome, apraxic, dyslexia, speech & language impairment etc and to provide these children with proper treatment and care.
Congratulating the founding members for the initiative, Keditsu hoped the centre will grow and be a blessing to many people in need especially for children with special needs. Despite the presence of many institutions for Persons with disabilities (PWDs), he observed that many of them failed to avail facilities due to social stigma and added such needed to be eliminated for the welfare of the PWDs. He also spoke on the stigma in the rural areas attached with PWDs and suggested that PWDs should not be taken as a taboo but to encourage and support towards them.
Citing that communication and social skills are very important for them so that they can also be employed, Keditsu called upon the collective effort of the government and other agencies to eradicate the stigma associated with PWDs in the state.
Kezhaleo Rulho with an autistic son narrated how he and his wife initially struggled with their son’s odd behaviours, which were actually the early signs of autism. They however consulted with their paediatrician after whom their son was given proper therapy and treatment for three months, Rulho said.
He stated the lack of facilities, awareness and social stigma for such disorders added to the hardships of the families. “The wait and see attitude in our society and the lack of awareness and acceptance is not a hidden secret. All of these factors acted as a catalyst to come up with the idea of starting a centre for children with special needs”, he said.
The centre will act as an umbrella for various child developmental needs with professional consultants from different fields that a child would require.
Their mission is to be a voice and to break the silence of disability in communities, through unceasing access to information and service delivery and to provide excellent care and education to children from 2 to 15 years age.