Mental Retardation: Journey with a Special Traveller (An Old and Rare Book)

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

Living with a mentally handicapped person generates a treasure-house of experience - some reflecting sadness and despair: others emotive strength and joy by receiving unconditional love that persons with such a handicap seem to be gifted with.

This book is dedicated to my brother-in-law Srinivas Ramanujan, who is a Down Syndrome and has provided the resource and motivation for this presentation. He and his friends will never be able to read it but if others, who can, find it meaningful and develop the attitude to share and understand the emotions of these children of a lesser god, I could derive satisfaction in having been of some service.

I have attempted at sharing of ideas and experiences that I have gained over my many years of association with mentally retarded children. If care is taken to recognise that the mentally handicapped also grow, change and develop throughout life. however at their own pace, it should be easier to develop a helpful attitude towards their welfare. In this context Henry David Thorcau's thought conveyed in his poem "Walden" is relevant.

It gives me considerable pleasure to write a few of my thoughts to reflect my admiration for the praiseworthy contribution Mrs. Prema Raghavan is making in bringing out her book on mental retardation. In many ways this is a very unique contribution from a person whose educational and technical training on the one hand, and personal experiences at a very much sensitised level to the problem on the other, make this document very special. Mrs. Raghavan has relentlessly pursued every avenue of education and training to acquire for herself a comprehensive background and knowledge as much as one can possibly get in India, while simultaneously pursuing practical work in schools, workshops and training centres. It is therefore no surprise that the organisation of this book that she has brought out so well, reflects the many important facets in all matters pertaining to the mentally retarded. What makes this book very readable, though it is very generously packed with a good deal of technical material, is the narrative style which is so lucid on account of the personal involvement and experience of the author.

This book is for parents of mentally retarded children (MR) who are anxious to know more about handling MR children. professionals working for MR, such as doctors, speech therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, academic teachers as well as yoga, music, sports and art teachers.

It is a guide to understanding a mentally handicapped individual from birth through his life span.

problems arising out of mental handicap affecting the MR and those around and how they can be managed.

I wrote it because rehabilitation is a team work and every professional has to contribute towards effective rehabilitatior of a mentally handicapped person. there are many books on this subject by western authors.

Western models cannot be transplanted to the Indian cultural context.