“‘Not in the matter, but in thought, not in possessions but in ideas, are to be found the seeds of immortality’. Sir JC Bose.

Dhruv, is an idea, the idea that a child must be listened to. When he was fourteen, he expressed unequivocally that he had no interest in going to the special school, he went to for the previous three years. It was a decision thrust on us, by him, to start some kind of home-schooling; which eventually brought down to a year’s time dwindle to ‘no-schooling’, or a more attractive word ’unschooling’. But the net result was a teenager who was surfing the net for all his needs and seemed to be really happy! Dhruv’s special needs are that he has Fragile -x syndrome, a genetic condition that makes formal learning very tough.

It was at a time like this, trying to get Dhruv interested in art, that we had teachers who helped Dhruv develop his ‘unstructured’ art.

As time passed, we learnt that Dhruv’s compositions had great beauty. Our role was to develop a sense of art that was open to this freedom. The idea of expressing one’s feelings through colour and movement was his calling and we had to help him achieve it!

Soon we started framing his works, putting them online and friends started wanting to procure them.

Today he is a happy 19-year-old who is managing his home life in quarantine pretty well with his art along with his newfound hobbies of cooking, singing and family time.

Not many are aware of this syndrome but early detection goes a long way in helping the kids attain their complete potential.”

#FragileXIndia #fragilexsyndrome #fxs #Differentnotless #fragilexawareness #Autismorfragilex #Inspire #Art #Happiness #Madras #HumansofMadras