“Bhag bhaaaag!”, “aur tez, aur tez...” (Run, run! Faster, faster!), a female para-athlete’s father’s cry can be heard at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium every morning. She is practising, and he is giving a war cry – he dreams that she shall win an Olympic medal for India one day.
Every single day depends on her mood and her wandering mind. On some days, she partially obeys; on other days, she is not in control and shouts at her father for pushing her too much. She might greet a stranger vociferously at times; at other times, she might ignore someone she has known for years.
She was born with one kidney and is 22 now. She had issues in her schooling until Class 8, after which her parents decided to homeschool her. After she played for India, her principal invited her as the chief guest on the sports day of their school, a proud moment for her.
She loves music, but she is intellectually disabled.
Another boy had a squint since childhood. His speech was improper, and he started walking later than most children. He joined playschool late, where his classmates mocked him for his spectacles and speech issues. This led to fights, and he had to change schools three times, repeat classes, and was homeschooled for two years. Finally, he joined a government school, where he still is at 17.
He watches wildlife documentaries and science fiction, and goes to the gym to prepare himself to win a medal one day. He too is intellectually disabled.
These are two of the few intellectually disabled para-athletes in the T20 and F20 (T – track events; F – field events) categories from India. Everyone thinks they are special children. They are not; they are just intellectually challenged. Intellectual disability is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects cognitive functioning such as learning, problem-solving and judgement, along with adaptive functioning, which is all about communication skills and participation in society. On the other hand, the special children category encompasses any form of emotional, intellectual or physical impairment. Intellectual disability is just a small portion of the special children category. The category also covers autism, deafblindness, visual impairment, hearing impairment, developmental delay, emotional disturbance, multiple disabilities, orthopaedic impairment, learning disabilities and language disorders. This classification of Children with Special Needs is further notified by the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) and is well defined in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
While the government’s education policy talks about mainstreaming, most schools in India either do not have the facilities for the intellectually disabled or outrightly refuse to give them admission. Special trainers, which are the need of the hour both in education and in sports, are mostly missing. In the case of the girl described above, her father tries to chip in. He gave up his career to be with her every single day. He and his wife, the girl’s mother, have decided to commit their lives to her and make her a sportswoman India would always be proud of.
As her father puts it, education cannot take an intellectually disabled person very far. For many, sport is the answer – but India needs committed trainers who can manage these para-sportspersons mentally more than physically.
Most people have no understanding of intellectual disability, or how it differs from autism and Down’s syndrome. Most intellectually disabled children who do make a promising start in sports are not able to take it forward. Parents face financial challenges and, more than anything else, there is a lack of knowledge. With no information-dissemination system or counselling from the government, they only end up hitting the wall, leading them to give up sports. While abled children can take group command, the intellectually disabled have unique issues and need specialised and focused attention. The training has to revolve around their individual capacity and mental strength, which requires proper analysis to decide which game one should be put into so that he or she can perform to the best of their potential. Even the National Institute of Sports Centres still does not train coaches for the specialised training required for the intellectually disabled. No wonder only one intellectually disabled athlete, in the 400m race, was part of the Indian Paralympic team in Paris, out of 84 para participants from India. She was a proud bronze medal winner too.
On the other side, there were 57 participants from the intellectually disabled category in swimming alone from various countries, with a total of 161 intellectually disabled participants who took part in swimming, table tennis and athletics (400m, 1500m, shot put and long jump) from 42 nations. This reflects not just on our lack of training and physical infrastructure, but also the lack of awareness leading to social apathy in society.
There are two bodies in India which focus on special children – Special Olympics Bharat (SOB) and the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI). While the PCI is the umbrella body, SOB focuses specifically on special children including those with autism, Down’s syndrome and intellectual disability, with a separate body for those with cerebral palsy. It is only the intellectually disabled and those with cerebral palsy who have been included in the Paralympics so far. The first step for anyone with a disability is to obtain a Unique Disability ID, which includes them in the National Database for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). This marks the beginning of the long and arduous documentation process required for becoming an intellectually challenged para-sportsperson in India. The IDs required are as follows:
a. Athletic Federation of India (AFI) ID – to register on the government portal, the National Sports Repository System (NSRS).
This is a simple process which can be completed online.
b. Virtus ID – to participate in T20 (track category for the intellectually disabled) and F20 (field category for the intellectually disabled).
This ID is the most complicated step, and most parents of the intellectually disabled do not even know who will issue it. The certified psychologist who evaluates the candidate for this ID conducts a thorough psychological and adaptive behaviour assessment. This process takes 3–4 months and involves a cost of approximately ₹30,000.
c. Sports Data Management System (SDMS) ID – to register with PCI.
This ID requires 15–20 days and costs approximately ₹2,625. It is issued once the Virtus ID is submitted as part of the documentation.
d. MQS (Minimum Qualification Standard) – to play at national or international level, the sportsperson needs to clear the MQS.
During the above process, one of the biggest challenges is the classification of athletes. Wrong classification by unqualified classifiers can lead to competent sportspersons being sent into a category where they do not belong, leading to frustration and downfall. In a country where people do not understand the difference between being illiterate and being intellectually disabled, nationwide campaigns are required to create awareness on this subject.
Jeevesh Gupta works with Founder Campaign For Differently Abled
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.