Bhavpreeta is the ray of hope for autistic children!

“I graduated in Politics and Social Policy from England and did my Masters in English. I wanted to be an IFS officer. I finished my graduation in 2013 and came back to India. My family friend started a kindergarten school where she wanted English teachers. In India, the thing is you can give an English exam in Hindi. People came to her with a Masters in English but they did not know how to speak. So she asked me to help her till the time she found an English teacher who could speak English. I had no issues with this, so I agreed. My actual teaching started like this. I used to teach two to three hours to these children daily. I was told that the naughtiest child was in my class. For one week, he came to my class and after that, there was nothing mischievous about him. After a week, her mother called in school and asked my friend to thank me. The reason being that he was studying in this school for three years and for the first time he went back home and asked her mother to help him with homework. He was a dyslexic child. His dyslexia was the reason for his naughtiness because whatever was being taught in class, he couldn’t understand any of it. But if you teach him properly, he’ll not be mischievous; he’ll try to learn. That phone call changed my life. I wanted this to happen every day. I wanted that people should understand their children.

Because I’ve studied in foreign and the education system was different here, I realized there are many subjects which are not being taught in India. So I started my company, Engnite. Our main motive is to make people comfortable in communicating in English. From the past six to seven years we’ve been training students in colleges and universities about personality development.

Last month, I met a child who is autistic. An instance took place which hurt me in some way. I wanted to change it. It’s very important and essential for parents to understand their child’s behavior. Autism is neither a disease nor a disability. The basic problem with an autistic child is that he/she cannot make eye contact. Another major problem is that he has social issues. Parents usually force their kids to wish guests by strenuously making eye contact. This hurt me a lot and the condition of those kids touched me. I started researching what do we do in our country for such children? What are the organizations that are working on autism? Unfortunately, there is not much in our country to help such children. I thought if I start teaching communication to parents, that would be a great help to these children. I also thought of opening a center where these children feel friendly to the world and they are not distinguished as differently-abled; where they can showcase their talents and creativity as a normal person. I just want to spread awareness among parents that they should behave with their children more sensibly. They should understand what their child is devoid of and what can help him/her to get better. Parents’ sensibility will boost their child’s confidence.

Just like in biodiversity, we need different things for a good physical environment; autism is neurodiversity. Autism has medical treatment but it is not fully treatable. Therapies help a lot in treating autism.

We’re currently working on establishing a center where parents are also involved. We want to train the parents or caretakers of such children as to how should they react or behave with such a child. We want them to be a part of the therapy so that they understand their child better which helps the child improve faster. We will invite people from different fields such as doctors, researchers, therapists to join us. We’re working on creating an environment for autistic children where they can learn and grow because they too have the right to education. We want to create awareness and make these beautiful creatures socially acceptable.

My nani and mumma have been running an NGO, Akhil Bhartiya Mahila Evam Bal Vikas Samiti, since 1994 and I am the Vice-Chairman. They’ve been serving women and children for so long that they’ve always inspired me in every way. I have merged Engnite with this NGO and now we all are working together for this cause. I feel lucky that God has made me capable enough to help others and I won’t step back ever because it makes my life complete in every sense.”

Instagram – @bhavpreetathakur