Judging children with special needs does not define who they are. It defines who you are.It is not uncommon in this society to limit the potentials of children with special needs to a list of behaviors they are expected to perform. They are so often looked down upon, ‘sympathised’ and restricted from doing things they actually might excel in. Here is the story of Vibhu Agrawal of Raigarh, a specially-abled boy with downs syndrome,who did not let his disability obstruct him from achieving great success in life. Of late, this differently-abled boy with ‘intellectual disability’has brought laurels to Chhattisgarh by becoming medalist in a national level badminton championship. Vibhu, aged 17, has braved all the odds and secured second position in the badminton tournament held under the aegis of Special Olympic Bharat in 16-21 age group M8 division category.

 

In fact, Special Olympics Bharat is an officially recognised programme of Special Olympics International, which operates in India. It is recognized by the government of India as a National Sports Federation for the development of sports opportunity for the people with intellectual disabilities. Not only in badminton has this ‘special’ boy excelled but in the art of dancing, playing synthesizer and doing yoga as well. This tremendously talented lad has been nicknamed as ‘Rock-Star’in Raigarh. Vibhu has won many district, state and national level dance competitions, thereby winning accolades across Chhattisgarh. This chap with multi-dimensional personality has partaken in several dance shows across the state and has won the hearts of spectators with his impeccably timed dance moves. To maintain his physical fitness, this exemplary boy has been practicing various aasans of yoga daily, and has been successfully partaking in prestigious yoga competitions.

 

“We never got disheartened when we came to know that our child has downs syndrome. We never considered Vibhu as special child. Rather we consider ourselves as special parents. We faced a bit of problem in getting Vibhu admitted in school. But we never got dissuaded. We had ensured that Vibhu got best education and he gets involved in extra curricular activities”, said Shalini Agrawal, mother of Vibhu. After doing regular classes till class 8, Vibhu passed his class 10 exam through open schooling medium. “Chanchala Patel madam of ‘Aasha-The Hope’ organization, who herself has physical impairments, has been mentoring, developing the personality and boosting the morale of Vibhu”. Vibhu had undergone dedicated training for badminton at Shuttlers Academy in Raigarh under coach Saurabh Panda and Hitesh Verma. “When Vibhu’s parents approached me, I was in dilemma because I had never trained special children. Actually, I found tremendous fire and zeal in Vibhu. And I decided to train him using special methods. Rest is history!” said Saurabh Panda. Vibhu has been indefatigably practicing badminton and aspires to win medal for India at Summer Special Olympics to be held at Berlin (Germany) in 2023. Looking at the story of Vibhu, it can be said that you’re not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have