July 11, 2012

SHAUN SANTAMARIA

TISA's effort has yielded result. My mail sent to Pune school was responded  by the school management. I am posting text of my reply to school below.


Dear Sir/Madame,

St. Xavier’s Pre-Primary School

Pune.

At the outset I am extremely grateful for showing your concern and giving a very prompt reply to my mail. I convey my sincere thanks for the same.
I would like to add that we are certainly not being carried away by media reports. I being from legal background, I well understand the role of Media. Our only concern is that Shaun Santamaria should not in any way be penalized for no fault of his. He is too young to understand the communication skills and what speech blocks are. When I read the news in Times of India on 7th morning it pained and shocked me a lot. I can well understand how a PWS suffers because of no fault of his despite having all the abilities. Though approximately 1% people worldwide suffer from this handicapcy but it has remained a neglected area. The idea was giving support to the young child.

On perusal of term 1 and term 2 reports it is observed that though it has not been mentioned anywhere that Shaun stutters but as per our experience the following remarks in report give indication that the child may be a developing stammering:

READING : He is unable to read even the right words.

SPELLING : He is able to spell only a few words.

NURSERY RHYMES & JINGLES : He needs to learn the rhymes is unable to recite
any rhymes.

DRAMATICS : He is hesitant to act in class.

GENERAL REMARKS : Shaun is a quiet and well mannered child. He must participate in class activities. He lacks self-confidence. He must make an effort to improve in his overall performance.

The above indications requires immediate help to the child to recover so that he may not develop confirm stammering. TISA is an association of Indian people who stammers . Its purpose is to collect and disseminate relevant, correct and unbiased information for people who stammer and their families, friends and society in general. It is promoting self help group movement where PWS learn to help each other and themselves. After Parents I have greatest regard towards Teachers because they only tell us what is good & what is bad.

Do you know what is common amongst following?

(i) King George VI England

(ii) Aristotle, Great thinker

(iii) Winston Churchill.

(iv) Marlyn Monroe

(v) Ed Ball - British Minister for Labour

(vi) Rowan Etkinson (Mr.Bean)

(vii) Issac Newton

(viii) Charles Darwin

(ix) EMS Namboodripad

(x) Hritik Roshan

They all had speech problems.

Stammering is involuntary repetition of part of a word (syllable) while speaking. It is caused by a rare neuro – physical disorder of the speech nerves in the brain. It is important to understand its “involuntary” and “variable” nature. It may not be present while singing, whispering, reading with others, talking to pets, friends and under a variety of other conditions.

About 1% adults are expected to be PWS. It is more common among men than women by 4 to 1. About half of PWS may have a close relative with the same disorder.

For Teachers here are a few tips to help a child who may be developing stammering QUIETLY:

(1) Identify the children who are shy in class like Shaun.

(2) Talk to their parents about their behavior.

(3) Talk to child – how he feels. Talk about it openly.

(4) Encourage the child to speak and take part in school activities.

(5) Don’t give any special treatment to such child.

(6) Praise their qualities.

(7) Take care of Teasers in school.

(8) Talk to class about stuttering.

(9) Do not call students in specific order.

(10) Invite a therapist in school.

(11) Talk to child in slow relaxed way

(12) Never interrupt when he is saying something

(13) Encourage to speak loud.

(14) Never fill in words during childs speech.

(15) To gain confidence encourage for some hobby – singing, painting, social activities.

(16) Never interrupt to say : slow down, first think what you want to say, take a deep breath etc.

(17) If you do not understand, say sorry, what did you say? But do not react negatively, either in words or through facial expression and body language.

(18) Increase the situation in which the child is most fluent. Success in one situation builds confidence and leads to success in more situations.

(19) Keep natural eye contact

(20) Treat the person who stutters with the same level of dignity and respect as you treat other people.



I have all respect and full faith in Law of Land which will certainly do justice. Meanwhile if you need any help in this regard TISA will be too happy to HELP.

Sincerely yours,

Jasbir sandhu,

Chandigarh,

Cell 099150 06377.

2 comments:

Rajesh, Hyderabad said...

@Jasbir ji--I am happy that those people replied to you.
Please also post the response of the school authorities.

Regards.

Dinesh said...

Dear Jasbir-ji,
The 20 points that you have mentioned are note worthy.

You have not only raised the concern but also guided them on how to treat such students. That was the best part of your post.

I'm also curious to know about your mail to School and thier reply so that we can also learn some letter writing skill! :-)