We’re staring at the most uniquely drawn three-dimensional vision of a horse, and it’s hard to believe that the artist who created this magenta-on-black image is standing awkwardly beside his work, looking bemused to be at an art opening, though it’s the second so far. Does 20-year-old Orko (Roshan Roy) know how much of an inspiration his work is to the parents of other autistic children? He is too busy trying theatre and music workshops to bother about such mundane details.
Orko is a success story among autistic children. He has a talent and parents who have accepted him as he is. In fact, his father went one step ahead two years ago, celebrating his son with his debut film Apna Asmaan. At the festival, Kaushik Roy, who heads branding and marketing at Reliance, shares the lessons that he and his wife Nina have learnt.
“The first thing is to take the child out. Regardless of whether it could be embarrassing or people may feel uncomfortable, you should take your child out into public spaces and
allow him to interact with others.” The Roys have experienced lack of understanding from their friends since discovering Orko had a problem. Initially it hurt, they didn’t let it stop them from introducing Orko to friends.
“Another responsibility is to talk about the problem and allow people to know what the condition is truly about. There are a lot of nice people out there who simply do not understand what autism is about,” Nina says.
Having had trouble finding friends for Orko, the Roys recommend looking outside residential circumferences. “You should be willing to look beyond your friend circle, your “class”, to find your child friends,” Kaushik explains. Orko, therefore, while lacking friends in his own building, has a circle of friends he plays sport with twice a week. “Playing with those children is very important to him. He wouldn’t miss it for anything,” says Nina. In fact, Orko who loves animals is also epileptic, which further restricts his activities. But thanks to the encouragement of his brother who majored in psychology, he is encouraged to make friends and even try moving about on his own.
“Taking out an epileptic child poses another problem altogether,” says Kaushik. “But our friends who have seen Orko in that state understand the dangers of a person choking on their own saliva and they know what to do if someone’s having a similar episode.”
Kaushik and Nina have encouraged Orko to be the best artist he can be. “There are so many things he cannot do but at least he has always been a happy child. That is what we want. That he continue to be a happy child,” Nina says.