“Parents of children with special needs SHOULD BE POSITIVE”

May 14 was celebrated as Mother’s Day worldwide including in India. In this Mother’s Day special feature, Aruna Raghuram interviewed Dr. Sumithra Prasad, founder of the DORAI Foundation, Chennai and mother of social entrepreneur Srinivasa Prasad (31), a person with special needs In 1991 when Srinivasa aka Sahitya was born prematurely, the doctor predicted that he would not live beyond five years of age. He was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis at birth and epilepsy subsequently. In and out of hospitals through infancy, he was diagnosed with ADHD at age five and autism at seven. Heart and lung problems were added to the list of ailments. Through all these trials and tribulations, his mother Dr. Sumithra Prasad didn’t give up. She homeschooled Sahitya who completed class XII through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) with baking, confectionery and catering management as electives. In 2013, he came up with the idea of starting a bakery which would employ persons with disabilities. Now in its tenth year, the SAI Bakery has won several awards including the ‘Best practices for rehabilitation of adults with different disabilities’ citation of the National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Multiple Disabilities, Chennai. Sahitya was also honoured with the ‘Ashta Vakra Samman — Role Model Award’ in 2017 in Patna. Through Sahitya’s difficult journey fraught with health complications and disabilities, mom Sumithra has been a rock, cheerleader and valuable role model. Having herself overcome a troubled childhood of drug abuse, Sumithra persevered to complete her post-graduation in psychology from Bombay University followed by a Ph D in psychosocial interventions in community mental health awarded by Pondichery University. In 2005 she established the DORAI Foundation, an NGO which works in education, community health, creating sustainable livelihood projects for women, skill-building, youth empowerment for the differently abled, supporting people from vulnerable sections of society, and disaster management. SAI Bakery is an initiative of the foundation. In this interview, Sumithra shares the mother-son’s inspirational journey. Sahitya was diagnosed with multiple physical ailments during the very first year of his life. As a new mother, how did you cope with this tragedy? Sahitya was born pre-term on October 2, 1991. It was a normal delivery. We were happy that he shared his birthday with Mahatma Gandhi. Eleven months later we were told he was born with post hepatic cirrhosis of the liver. A few months on, he went into a coma after a fever. It was December of 1992. We were in Mumbai in the post Babri Masjid demolition riots curfew situation and it was difficult to get him to a hospital. He was in a coma for two-and-a-half days. The doctors did not give us much hope. For me, the initial period of motherhood was focused on ensuring the survival of my son. At three years, things looked better. He could recite the alphabet and chant shlokas effortlessly. His memory was remarkable. I was so happy that Sahitya, who had been so critically ill, was doing well. But this happiness…