Never giving up, never giving in !
A report on our 6th Annual Special Mom Award held on August 6, 2023 where we honored 20 incredible women and their families!
This pretty much sums up the attitude of our Special Moms this year! They’re not giving up or giving in but using challenges as stepping stones to build themselves and their families up. What might have crushed others has, in fact, formed and fashioned our Special Moms into women of substance. That’s why they’re incredible!
It’s not easy being a parent; even more so, parent to a child with intellectual disabilities. These mothers face enormous emotional stresses and insecurities. They often question their parenting competence, and grieve over the future that they had envisioned for their children. Often grappling with guilt, condemnation, judgment, and criticism, it’s no surprise that they report higher levels of stress than other parents. Sadness is a familiar companion. How often they miss out on family and social activities because their children’s disabilities prevent them from participating. Most feel like outsiders in their own family circles! How difficult that must be to bear every single day!
But our Special Moms are overcomers. They feel what they feel but push through to the other side where love, acceptance, and confidence abide. They’ve broken molds and refuse to be stereotyped, emerging stronger in an increasingly materialistic and self-seeking world.
Our 2022|23 Award ceremony was held on August 6, 2023, at Radha Regent, Arumbakkam, Chennai. We are very grateful to the event sponsor, Azim Premji Foundation (APF), our Chief Guest, Dr. Sethu Kumaran, Chairman of Soka Ikeda College of Arts and Science for Women, and our Guest of Honor, Mr. P. Jerard Selvaraj, Joint Secretary to Government, Handlooms, Handicrafts, Textiles & Khadi Department, for giving away the prizes together with Si Arunodayam’s long-standing donors. We are grateful to every donor, sponsor, staff member, well-wisher and friend for making this ceremony a grand success.
At the ceremony we welcomed these amazing women and families into our lives: Alapati Naga Sowjanya, mother of Alapati Tejasvi (10 yrs.), Chennai; Ambiga S, mother of Surendiran (20 yrs.),Tiruvannamalai; Bargavi K. B, mother of Lhamaya (14 yrs.), Chennai; Dhanalakshmi P, mother of Logeshwari (20 yrs.) and Jai Balaji (15 yrs.), Coimbatore; Jayakodi S, mother of Sathish Kumar (26 yrs.), Tirunelveli; Kalarani, mother of Abhinash (14 yrs.) and Santhosh Abi (13 yrs.), Kanyakumari; Kamala S, mother of Gowthaman (23 yrs.), Chennai; Maheshwari L, mother of Suryaprakash (14 yrs.), Coimbatore; Mary C, mother of Sasikumar (29 yrs.), Chennai; Nirmala M, mother of Anand (39 yrs.), Chennai; Ponnammal K, mother of Epsiyammal (26 yrs.) and Prahbu Kumar (13 yrs.),Tiruvannamalai; Pooma, mother of Rejin Raj (14 yrs.) and Reju (12 yrs.), Kanyakumari; Pothiyammal G, mother of Pothiraja (15 yrs.), Chennai; Prathiba Sudhakar, mother of Roshini (14 yrs.), Chennai; Ruckmani S, mother of Lokesh Babu (26 yrs.), Chennai; Sajeetha Parveen Syed Ibrahim, mother of Sheik Alaudeen (42 yrs.), Chennai; Santhakumari J, mother of Sabarinathan (20 yrs.), Madurai; Sasikala Baskaran, mother of Ragabharathi (15 yrs.), Chennai; Srikala V, mother of Naveen Kumar (21 yrs.) and Veena (16 yrs.), Chennai; and Subbulakshmi M, mother of Keshavapechi Raju (22 yrs.), Tirunelveli.
The audience was moved by their stories presented during the ceremony. Our Guest of Honor, Mr. Jerard Selvaraj, praised Sri Arunodayam’s great work in recognizing and supporting these families and two awardees even shared about their experiences with Sri Arunodayam. (Their testimonials are alongside.) Thoughtful stories were interspersed with wonderful dance sequences by our children, and the ceremony ended with a grand lunch for all.
“Parents of children with intellectual disabilities are never really prepared for what lies ahead in the journey with their children. Stress mounts daily and that’s why they need positive reinforcement. They need to know they are not alone in this journey,” says Iyyappan Subramaniyan, Sri Arunodayam’s Founder and Managing Trustee. “Out of necessity, mothers of special needs children tend to be more flexible, compassionate, and resilient. They are long-suffering, braving the odds for their children. We honor them by focusing the spotlight not only on their challenges but on their ability to overcome them, which makes them inspirational role models for society. By bringing their experiences to light, we seek to provide hope and encouragement to mothers of special needs children all across this country.”
Hear it from our Special Moms
Our Special Moms are playing a crucial role in society. We must too. Let’s put a stop to the judgment and discrimination these families face in our communities. We begin by offering them respect and extending a hand of friendship. There’s no telling how our own lives can be enriched with a sense of purpose as we become more compassionate toward others.
Alapati Naga Sowjanya
Alapati is not one to take things lying down. She speaks her mind. She is mother to ten-year old Tejasvi, a very talented differently abled girl. Tejasvi entered the India Book of Records in March 2022 for floating…
Ambika S
Ambika lives in Tiruvannamalai with her three children. Her husband deserted them around ten years ago. She’s been raising her boys on her own. Her eldest son is a welder and her youngest has just completed the 12th Standard…
Bargavi K. B
Bargavi and her intellectually disabled daughter, Lhamaya, live with her parents in Madambakkam, Chennai. Bargavi had a bad marriage and her husband used to persecute her mercilessly on account of Lhamaya…
Dhanalakshmi P
Dhanalakshmi and her husband live in Coimbatore with their two children – Logeshwari and Jai Balaji. Although Logeshwari was diagnosed with severe intellectual disability, she can speak quite well. She learned to read and write, and she walks with support…
Jayakodi S
Jayakodi and her husband have two children. Her husband is retired, a heart patient with diabetes. Their elder son, Satish Kumar, is intellectually disabled. He needs complete hands-on care as he cannot do much on his own. He also suffers with seizures..
Kalarani
Not having registered her marriage, Kalarani was at the receiving end of much abuse from her husband. He sent her out of the house when she became pregnant with their first child, Abhinash. Her husband went abroad , leaving mother and child to fend for…
Kamala S
Kamala lives in Tambaram, Chennai. She has two sons. Her second son, Gautaman, is differently abled. Kamala had noticed that he was a bit different from the other children and he could not speak until he was four years old. He also seemed to be hyperactive…
Maheshwari L
Of her two children, Maheshwari’s second son, Surya Prakash, lives with autism. Thanks to Aparna, a pediatrician who first alerted Maheshwari to her son’s condition, she was able to get Surya into rehabilitation therapy fairly early…
Mary C
Mary is 52 years old. After her marriage she moved from Kovilpatti to Chennai. Mary has three children; two boys and a girl of which her first born son, Shashi Kumar, lives with intellectual disabilities. Her second son is a graduate working in a private hospital…
Nirmala M
Nirmala dotes on her son, Anand. When the child was in the First Standard, his teacher noticed that he had some learning difficulties. She told Nirmala about it. Not wasting a moment, Nirmala took Anand to NIMHANS Bangalore for a complete assessment…
Ponnammal K
Ponnammal is 50 years old. She has four children. Her first two boys are doing well, but the last two children are differently abled. Her third child, a girl called Epsiyammal, isn’t able to speak or walk. Though Epsiyammal has developmental…
Pooma
Pooma has two children. Both are differently abled. Pooma’s husband is very irregular at work and gets home drunk everyday. Then he beats her and the children or sometimes ignores them for extended periods of time. Life is indeed miserable for this little family…
Pothiyammal G
Pothiyammal lives in Thiruvanmiyur. She has two sons of which the second one, Pothiraja, is a child with special needs. Pothiraja was diagnosed with autism a few years after he was born, so Pothiyammal and her husband moved to Chennai to get better treatment for him…
Prathiba Sudhakar
Prathiba is a HR professional with a Masters degree in social work. She always dreamt of having a daughter and watching her become someone special. So, when Roshini was born, it must have been a shock. Roshini struggles to see and to walk because she has choreoathetoid cerebral palsy…
Rukmani S
Rukmani and her husband were childless for the first 10 years of their marriage. Then, Lokesh Babu was born. The couple lavished him with love. As he grew, something didn’t seem quite right but the diagnosis of intellectual disability shocked the couple. Rukmani was distraught, wondering why God…
Sajeetha Parveen Syed Ibrahim
Sajeetha and her husband are parents to an only son, Sheikh Alauddin. He is the apple of their eye. The boy was normal and studied up to the 10th Standard. He was very active in school, taking part in debates, sports, and essay, poetry recitation and other competitions, winning…
Shanthakumari J
Shanthakumari lives in Madurai with her husband and son, Sabrinathan. The child is intellectually disabled. Sabrinathan had been undergoing training at the Madurai M.S. Chellamuthu Centre but had to discontinue for almost two years due to the pandemic. His mother…
Sasikala Baskaran
Sasikala and her family live in Avadi, Chennai. She has 3 daughters. Raghabharati, her second daughter lives with intellectual disabilities. The child suffered with convulsions and high fever when she was just 10 months old and the treatment…
Srikala V
Srikala and her husband have two children with special needs – Naveen Kumar and Veena. Naveen is 17 years old and Veena is 13. Both live with cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities. They are studying at the Spastic Society of Tamil Nadu, Taramani, Chennai..
Subbulakshmi M
Subbulakshmi’s son, Keshavapechi Raju, was a caesarean baby. When he was 4 years old he was diagnosed with Nystagmus, a condition of rapid involuntary (or voluntary, in some cases) eye movement. This would lead to vision impairment. A MRI scan revealed that the child had Joubert Syndrome which…
Mrs. Alapati Naga Sowjanya
[Special Mom Award 2022|23 Finalist]
“I’m speechless at receiving this award, and I thank Sri Arunodayam for breaking the mould and honoring mothers of children with ID. Many in society still have a medieval outlook, believing that these children are cursed. Nothing could be further from the truth! Our daughter is God’s gift to us. A true blessing. I would never exchange Tejasvi for anything in the world!”
Mrs. Prathiba Sudhakar
[Special Mom Award 2022|23 Finalist]
Mr. P. Jerard Selvaraj
[Joint Secretary to Government, Handlooms, Handicrafts, Textiles & Khadi Department]
