How these special people in Dubai triumph over disabilities for fulfilling lives

Gulf News

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

Transcript

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.

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