Special needs people are indeed people of determination. They fight crippling disabilities to live normal lives. Chandan Tekwani, 47, is one. Mildly autistic, the Indian expat has been battling schizophrenia, a severe mental illness, for 17 years, but that hasn’t stopped him from holding a steady job and becoming largely independent.
Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/special-reports/how-these-special-people-in-dubai-beat-disabilities-to-live-fulfilling-lives-1.1711466092562
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #specialneeds #disability
Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/special-reports/how-these-special-people-in-dubai-beat-disabilities-to-live-fulfilling-lives-1.1711466092562
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #specialneeds #disability
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Hi, my name is Chandan. I am working in Landmark since 10 years. Landmark has changed my life,
00:11my way of lifestyle and everything and it has helped me to grow and I have been working
00:16here and my colleagues and all the staff is very cooperative and supportive and I like
00:23to work in Landmark. First, I did not have value for money, value for life and now I
00:30have value for everything and I like to interact with people and I am working over here and
00:38I have learnt many things like size cubing, size tickering, how to greet customers, how
00:44to do returns and how to learn about the material of the cloth, what is cotton, what is nylon,
00:53what is polyester and what is ladies' garments, what is mixed material. All these things I
00:59have learnt, attended training sessions also. So, Landmark has been very supportive in helping
01:05me and I love working here. The staff is very cooperative and supportive. Thank you.
01:12My name is Mukesh Chetwani and I am a Chartered Accountant and I am brother-in-law of Chandan
01:17Tehkwani. Chandan Tehkwani was in an asylum in Pune for 17 years because he was diagnosed
01:26with schizophrenia. He was even not able to talk to people and he was scared that something
01:34wrong is going to happen with him and then we realised this and we brought him here and
01:39then now he is working in the Landmark Group for at least 10 years and he is completely
01:45transformed. He is a self-made person now and you will not believe last time he visited UK
01:53because he saved such a money to go to UK and now in 2-3 months he is planning to go to USA
01:59and I am very thankful to the Landmark Group for giving him such an opportunity and he can
02:06do his own work now, everything, and that's it.
02:10Hi, my name is Daina Lama. My birth name is Budmayi Lama and I am Ronnie's mother and
02:18Bishwa is my baby-in-law, Ronnie's wife. I am very happy today because Ronnie has completed
02:25five years with Splash and thank you, thank you so much to Raza Bhai and his wife, definitely.
02:32They had given the opportunity to Ronnie to work in Splash and grow so that he could
02:38get married and plus take care of his father. I am so proud of Ronnie. Ronnie?
02:47Actually, at age of six months, when Ronnie was six months, we came to know that he is
02:52born deaf and mute. It was really a very heartbreaking moment for us but we had to accept this and
02:59then slowly we put him in special needs school where he could get extra attentions and lot
03:06of people have contributed to grow him this way. The best part of Ronnie is he is very
03:12independent. He loves to work. He doesn't like to stay at home. He wants to be very
03:17busy and he has always been getting appreciation. They give every month. They appreciate the
03:25managers over here, the whole Splash group. They really take care of him. So, I am very
03:30happy because he looks forward to go to work. He soon wants to start his own momo joint
03:37because he loves to cook momos. I used to do when Ronnie was young and I was at home
03:45as a housewife to take care of him financially. I used to make momo at home and sell it out.
03:51So, that's what he has seen and then today, he himself makes momos. Let's see. Hope for the best.
03:58He has been saying that but honestly, I love this place for him. So, I always say Splash
04:03is good for you. Relax. I always wanted this opportunity to talk about UAE when it comes
04:09to people of determination. It's just amazing. It's just amazing. I just pray that even when
04:16I'm not in this world, my children should be in UAE because the kind of privileges they
04:23get for people of determination is amazing. Like even for example, even in the airport
04:29when I go, like Ronnie just has to say that I am deaf and mute and I am people of determination.
04:36In just matter of 5 minutes, we are near the door of the flight. Like we are near the gate.
04:43Like more than a special class treatment with one special official person taking us
04:50all the way to the security and to the gate. It's just 5 minutes and it's amazing. And
04:57most of the government places, they have free tickets and sometimes complimentary for their
05:03families. A lot of privileges. I personally feel that I always wish that my kids, even
05:11if I'm not there in this world, I want my two children, my daughter and my son and my
05:16baby in law and my grandchildren to always be in UAE. I love India definitely, but the
05:22kind of privileges they have over here, it's just amazing.
05:26Hi, everyone. How are you? My name is Sebastian. I would like to speak with you about what
05:33we are doing here at school at Sonnabridge. First, it's a school for people of determination.
05:40The teachers dedicate a lot of time with us to help us to improve. And especially here
05:46in the library, I'm working with some students, two of them. The thing I do is put the book
06:00number, sorry, the book name, the book number and the section number.
06:07Sonnabridge is a community within Dubai Sustainable City. It is designed to be inclusive and supportive
06:13environment for all the individuals with different needs. In Sonnabridge, we cater students from
06:20the age of two years and above to enhance their skills and independent living skills.
06:25This has been done by the integrated classroom therapy program, which includes educational
06:31support, applied behavior analysis, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy.
06:39This program supports the students from transition to the mainstream school, social inclusion,
06:45vocational training, job placement, and finding a permanent job. In addition, extracurricular
06:52activities such as horse riding, swimming, pottery, PE, music, art and craft, and gardening
07:00embedded in every individual student's schedule. This helps for us to identify their talents
07:06and work on their skills. In Sonnabridge, we are successfully transitioning many students
07:12yearly to the mainstream school, to the social inclusion, and to the job placement. Currently,
07:18some of our students are having their permanent jobs, while the rest of them are passing through
07:22their internship in other different companies, and the rest of them are training in their
07:27vocational skills inside Sonnabridge.