Aksa is 7 years old and has been diagnosed with Mild intellectual disability with locomotor disability. Her paternal grandmother Nafeesa Bee is a survivor of the Bhopal gas disaster. In January 2021 Aksa started attending Chingari where she receives speech therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and attends special education classes.
Prior to receiving physiotherapy, Aksa had an abnormal walking pattern and would frequently fall. Her walking, balance and muscle strength have now greatly improved, and she is able to stand, walk unsupported and kneel better than before. Aksa’s poor hand function, posture, coordination, and social skills on starting at Chingari have all seen significant improvement since receiving occupational therapy and speech therapy sessions have seen Aksa go from being able to speak only a few words to being able to speak with clarity to tell stories and converse well. Her previous issues with eye contact, drooling, chewing, and tongue movement are all now resolved. Special education classes have made a big difference to Aksa. Before attending she was unable to hold a pencil, identify fruits and vegetables and had no concept of numbers or alphabets. She has made remarkable progress and is now able to write numbers from 1 to 100, table of 2 and 3 and number names from one to ten. Aksa can also now write the alphabet from A to Z and all the alphabets in Hindi, she can identify ten fruits and ten vegetables and is beginning to read and write their names in Hindi and English.
Aksa loves dancing, listening to music and dressing herself, spending time and care in front of the mirror to do her makeup, especially if she attending a marriage party. In the future Aksa would like to join the police.
