Day One in School

Japs’ day one in school was heartbreaking and even though he could not talk, I sensed that he was disturbed. His puzzlement in this new environment was quite pronounced. As much as he didn’t say it, I could read so many questions on his mind. My heart kept on bleeding at every stage of admitting Japs in this new school. The school hosts both abled and differently abled children. It has programmes for normal school curriculum, special unit and vocational training. After the school management received Japs’ assessment report, he was immediately enrolled in the special unit. This was May 2011 and Japs was only 3 yrs 4 mnths old. From that day, everything changed for mom and Japs. Morning became a very unpleasant time for us – preparation for school started at 5am and by 6am we were by the roadside waiting for the school bus. Every morning became a war time and there were two titans involved; Japs resistance to get into the bus and my reluctance to let him go.

The people who love me and my family said that I was helping Japs…I wasn’t sure about that then, however the story has changed now and soon I will blog about Japs’ life in school. Thoughts of Japs coping in school with strangers stressed me to death, every time he came back home, he would be more clingy and possessive, it was frustrating for both of us. I know he wanted to tell me everything that happened in school and I was only too eager to listen, but this could never happen, because Japs is non-verbal. Instead, I relied more on the teachers to tell me about his life in school.  Today, looking back on the first term in school for Japs, I appreciate the inner strength that I mastered to let go of Japs…school has been the best thing that ever happened to him.