Minsa is 5 years old and has an intellectual development disability. She was born in Bhopal in an area affected by water contamination from the abandoned Union Carbide factory, the site of the 1984 gas disaster. She has been attending the Chingari children’s clinic for nearly a year, receiving occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech therapy and special education to help with her condition.
Minsa struggles with her mobility as well as perception and sensory processing, which can be a source of frustration for her as it limits her ability to do the things she wants. She has been working with the occupational therapist to improve her orientation and balance, which combined with tailored physiotherapy exercises has allowed her to achieve independent standing, and she can walk with only a little support. Occupational therapy, and support from her class teacher, have also helped her attention and perceptual skills, and she can now participate in activities with other children. Minsa is hearing impaired and could not speak when she arrived at the clinic. With the help of auditory speech therapy training, she can now recognise a wider range of non-verbal sounds, and she has just started to speak a few words.
Minsa loves going on motorbike rides with her parents. Her mother told us her best day came last month, when Minsa was able to enter the speech therapy room on her own and greet her therapist by name, something she could not have achieved before she started treatment.
