Keertana & Madhusudhan Kashyap, Proud Members of the Akshadhaa Assisted Living Community, Document Their Amazing Life Dedicated to the Nurture of Amogh.
I am Keertana, Amogh’s mother. Originally, from Hospet, I worked for a brief while before taking up a full-fledged homemaker’s role to take care of Amogh and the rest of the family.
This is Madhusudan, Amogh’s father, a native of Mysore. With 30 + years’ experience in the IT domain, I work with Infosys.
Therapies and Treatments: Preparing For the Long Haul
Amogh was diagnosed with Autism PDD NIOS when he was 2 years and 8 months old. His preschool teacher insisted that he be evaluated due to inadequate social interaction. Despite initial scepticism, we got him tested at the Spastic Society in Bangalore. To our horror, the diagnosis was positive.
Just as we were wondering about next steps, there was an opportunity to live in the United States for a few months. A detailed test in Chicago sadly confirmed Amogh’s diagnosis.
We lost no further time in starting language and behaviour therapy. Unfortunately, we had to rush back to India for a family emergency. Therapy sort of took a break for a few months before we could began consulting with the All-India Speech and Hearing Institute.
The realisation came in. Moving away from the initial assumption that this would be a short-term ordeal, we got around to preparing for the long haul. Early intervention and a wholesome approach have been important.
Amogh has gone through speech language, occupational, behavioural and Tomatis therapies. Apart from this, he has received various homeopathic and allopathic treatments. After a point of time, we were able to advice other parents in choosing appropriate therapies and treatments.
We also worked on addressing social anxiety. We would hesitate to take Amogh to gatherings, conscious of his stimming behaviour. Over time, we put in place a few rules and corrected atypical behaviour, while accepting Amogh for who is he is. That way, we have all worked together to prevent social isolation.
Overall, we may have faced relatively fewer challenges towards creating a fulfilling life for Amogh, but it hasn’t exactly been easy financially, emotionally and physically. Therapies and treatments would take us back and forth between Bengaluru, Mysore, Hyderabad, Pune and Puducherry. These journeys had an impact on my health. I suffered lower back issues for almost 15 years.
It’s already been more than 18 years of caring for Amogh. And, we know that this journey will go on for the rest of our lives.
Combining Mainstream and Curated Education
Fortunately for us, Amogh’s case is a very mild. So, in terms of care, he has been fairly independent since he was a child. Even as a baby, he was healthy. He has always been physically fit and active, swimming two kilometres every day and trekking regularly.
Based on initial recommendations from the therapist, Amogh began schooling at a normal Montessori School along with neurotypical children. We got him admitted to an international school in Mysore for his elementary schooling.
Amogh didn’t have any challenge until his 5th grade. From the 6th grade, teachers began considering him to be a distraction. By the 7th grade, we were told that Amogh will need to be schooled 1-1 by a dedicated teacher, whose entire salary we had to bear over and above school fees! After what happened here, we moved him to another international school for the 8th grade.
Here, the next two years were smooth. The 10th grade though was a different kettle of fish. Amogh struggled with most school tests, leading to a denial of hall ticket for the Board Exam. It took a lot of persuasion for the decision to be reversed. Amogh rose to the occasion. He put in hard work beyond his capacity, and with all effort put in by tutors, friends and family, he was able to clear his 10th grade with 65% marks!
So having encountered so much challenge thus far, we decided to opt for NIOS home schooling for his 11th and 12th grades. This transition made his education journey a lot easier. Amogh, Madhu and me recovered our confidence in his education. Amogh didn’t disappoint. He scored 70% marks in his 12th standard.
For the rest of his education, we came to the conclusion that pursuing traditional streams wouldn’t make sense. We decided to capitalise on his inherent strengths. He has been a trained classical singer since age five. Thankfully, there is a college dedicated to music in Mysore. Amogh pursued a Bachelors in Performing Arts, majoring in music. He completed his graduation in 2024 with a gold medal in Music!
Amogh is still not satisfied. He is pursuing his Master’s degree in music now. Alongside, he has been performing independently as a musician.
A Tonne of Load Lifted
We heard about Akshadhaa Assisted Living and Akshadhaa Foundation through references from other parents. We had a good discussion with Anirban and Sumana about Amogh and how can we be a part of the Akshadhaa Assisted Living Community. We were very happy with the vision and progress of the project. So much homework seems to have gone into it. The biggest question, ‘Who will take care of Amogh after us?’ was answered so seamlessly. It was like a tonne of load on our hearts and minds had been taken away once we signed up. Today we are almost able to breathe and live in peace knowing that our son’s future is secured.
So far, we have not been able to contribute substantially to the budding community owing to the fact that we live in Mysore and Amogh is still studying there. We are definitely looking forward to moving to the community once Amogh completes his studies in a couple of years. We are very eager to contribute in any possible manner to make the community stronger.
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