It was a tiring day for Rehana Khan (name changed), mother of a learning disabled student of Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC), science stream, on Thursday.
She had to run from pillar to post to find a younger writer but finally managed to get an adult writer for her son Abdul (name changed). Her son was appearing for his first board examination paper.
Rehana started her hunt for a younger writer from December and found one from one of the coaching institutes where her son used to go. But suddenly the grade XI student, who promised to be the writer for Abdul, stopped taking her call, Khan said.
Then came a government notification that specified conditions on appointing adult writers. However, guidelines on how to avail adult writers came only this Monday.
Rehana found an adult writer with great difficulty. She had to submit not just the application for an adult writer but also the picture and government-approved identity of the adult writer.
Rehana said: "My son is dyslexic and also have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). He was relieved when he got the concession to get an adult writer. He remember the difficulty he faced during his Secondary School Certificate (SSC) board examination. His writer, who was known to him, promised to be his writer during SSC exam and also took holiday for Abdul's exam. But he came for the first two papers and then vanished. My son had to finally write the exams without a writer.
"This time also, the younger writer of grade XI stopped taking my calls because his exams were also going to start the same time. I even went to that writer's college to request the principal to take his exam later. But the principal refused to do that. Hence, I had to search for an adult writer. The adult writer was encouraging my son to finish the dictation of answers fast in order to finish the exam on time. He was made to sit separately under strict supervision. My son was happy when he came out of the exam centre. Though the paper was lengthy, it was good, he claimed. Adult writers give confidence to children with special needs. Adult writers will also be of great help to autistic and spastic children."
But Rehana still has some work left. In between, she was was suddenly asked to submit the qualification details of the adult writer to the Mumbai divisional board. She will be doing that on Friday.
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