CHENNAI: The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart,” said Helen Keller, an American disability rights advocate. For 37 years, special educator Jayanthi Narayanan has been holding on to these reassuring words for sowing the seeds of optimism in the minds of her students. “If not for their teacher, who else can help these children identify their true potential? I want to be the light that will guide them through the darkness. I feel blessed to share their dreams,” says Jayanthi, who has been teaching children with disabilities since 1984 at The Clarke School for the Deaf, Mylapore.
Bigger responsibilities
Years of relentless service, compassion towards students and high regard for the profession rewarded this Triplicane resident with the Tamil Nadu Government State Award for Best Teacher on December 3 (observed as World Disability Day). “I’m grateful to God for having chosen me for this noble profession; my husband and family for standing by my side, and colleagues for believing in me, and my students and their parents for placing faith in my teaching. While we all work without expecting anything in return, awards like these are truly encouraging and reassuring that we are travelling in the right direction and chasing some important goals in life,” she shares.
Jayanthi’s currently handling a class of five students (aged 4-7) at Sadhana Unit for the Deafblind in Clarke School; and trains kids from early intervention until they develop personal pre-vocational skills. After a year of online classes, the school is doing its best to offer a nourishing experience for the children so that optimal learning becomes possible, and the kids feel safe and comfortable. “The last year has been extremely crucial with virtual classes. However, we could complete our activities smoothly with a positive response from parents, who despite working from home, regularly attended these sessions and guided the kids. Another challenge, after the reopening, has been in making these kids wear masks. Unlike us, they take longer to adapt to changes. We’re taking it slow,” she details.
Besides regular classes, Jayanthi’s latest contribution to the teaching fraternity and parents of kids with special needs is her ongoing video series released during the pandemic. With over 34 episodes, it equips parents with everyday life skills to engage with their kids effectively — like teaching them to wear shoes and using symbols to differentiate between right and left, or explaining how to make kids wear masks. “The toughest part has always been staying away from students during vacations. But, things got worse last year. We know the kids would miss us but it’s hard for them to communicate. Being confined within four walls makes them irritable and they tend to throw tantrums. Many parents thanked me for the videos,” informs Jayanthi.
Against all odds
Despite the demanding nature of her work and additional responsibilities that come along with it, Jayanthi has willingly stayed the course. “After completing my diplomas in teaching kids with hearing impairment and intellectuall disabilities, I pursued MSc in Counseling Psychology. Plenty of training courses came my way. It transformed me into an empathetic human being. After all these years, when people ask if I feel emotionally exhausted or burnt out, I tell them I don’t know these words nor have I experienced them. Financial woes or personal odds did not and will not stop me from pursuing what I like,” she shares.
Even the smallest of developments in her students bring her a sense of fulfillment. “Right from activities for sensory stimulation to hand-and-mouth coordination, everything requires months of training because of their multiple disabilities. We need to be caring, accepting and patient to ensure they don’t feel let down at any point. If a kid picks up a morsel of food without dropping it or uses the restroom appropriately then that’s a milestone for him and me. I see them as my children; my world is fairly small — it begins and ends at school. I’ve seen many students come in and go out all these years. I don’t expect them to remember or visit me after graduating. I will celebrate and cherish their achievements from some corner of the world.”
Sharing her dream for an inclusive, sustainable and accessible community in the post-Covid world, Jayanthi suggests, “Kids should have Individualised Education Programs and classrooms that have computers with appropriate software and a braille printer. Let us make our classrooms welcoming to our children so that they enjoy learning. The kids deserve equal opportunities to display their talents and recognition when they excel in any field. As an individual, I’m confident that I can bring about some change, small or big.”