Meghalaya -Shimtihun Nongrum (ST6059)

Shimtihun Nongrum is a resident of Mawkma village under Khatar-Shnong Block, EastKhasi Hills District. The village is about 36 kilometers away from the Block Resource Centre. She is an 8yrs old girl is enrolled in a neighbourhood school at the age of 5yrs, i.e in the year 2014. She is identified as having mental retardation (Down Syndrome) by the Block Resource Person (IE) who visited his school in the year 2015, where the teachers complained about the problems to teach her in school. The BRP,IE soon after observing the child, met the mother and talked to her about the condition of her daughter and that she will be needing a Disability Certificate where she could avail the schemes and benefits given be the government. She was then referred to civil hospital, shillong for psychological assessment and certificate.

Functional assessment was done to find out her functional level of performance, it was done in the presence of the class teacher where it will help the teacher to gather some ideas and methods to deal with her and train her in school.

The BRP,IE started visiting her school on a regular basis for assessment to know her current level. During the visit she was firstly assessed in the following areas.

• Behavior
• Language and Communication
• Self-care activities
• Early Learning Skills
• Motor skills

Shimtihun shows great interests in going to school, she is a very quiet girl. She tries to cooperate with the teacher as well as with the BRP whenever training is given to her. She does not show any tantrums or retaliate with the teachers or her classmates. The teachers of the school are also very supportive and always seek advice from the BRP whenever required.  The Block Resource Person (IE) visited the school on a regular basis to train the teacher on various activities to teach her, to follow up on the education, to check the performance in school and the level of achievement and her progress.