In the eighth interview in the Talking Fingers series, let's meet Devanshi Singh. She is a eleven year old with many talents. Let's start by chatting with her mom - Monalisa.
Q) Would you like to share your Autism journey with our readers..
Our journey with autism has been full of ups and downs and full of struggles, as in our case autism comes along with a host of medical issues and is not simply a neuro-diversity. We achieved Devanshi's communication skills with sheer grit and determination, and a lot of credit goes to her cooperative nature and her brave soul.
She was a typically developing, jovial child till the age of 2.6years and communicated in phrases and small sentences in 3 languages. She regressed overnight following a vaccine induced fever and lost all her skills and milestones. After intensive speech therapy she started gaining speech in words again and was improving nicely, but she fell sick with multiple and continuous infections and again lost most of her speech and also developed a devastating pain condition. However, we never stopped her education despite a living nightmare and kept pushing her forward, as she is a very bright student.
She finally found her voice at the age of 7, when she started spontaneously writing about her excruciating pain issues and about her feelings. From then onwards, I just kept on pushing her more and more to express her feelings, observations and opinions through writing and typing, and she kept on surprising us.
Q) Your advice to other Autism parents....
My one and only advice to all autism parents is - love your child with all your heart and never accept defeat. Never ever give up on your child and keep on trying everything you can to offer the best possible life to your child.
Now, let's meet the star of our interview - Devanshi. She writes beautiful poetry, so let's start by reading one of her poems
Mother
Mother, a word, a world,
Mother, a face, a hug, a safe place forever.
Mother, the first friend, the first teacher, the first guide,
A place I can ran to and hide behind.
Mother, full of frowns, glares and anger,
But deep inside all pure love and concern.
Mother, the first guardian angel on earth,
A delightful wonder, an astonishing gift of God,
a euphoria
Q) How old are you?
I am 11.
Q) Where do you live?
Kolkata
Q) What are you studying Devanshi?
I study in class V in Narayana School Newtown.
Q) What is your favourite subject?
My favourite subject is science, because since I was diagnosed with autism, I have always wanted to become a scientist when I grow up, as I want to treat autism and find a cure for it and other serious diseases like diabetes and cancer.
Q) Tell us about your pet bird, Devanshi..
My pet bird is a green cheek conure. It's name is Tweety and it is as cute as a soft toy. I only play with Tweety, my parents take care of it.
Q) I hear that you like travelling, what is your favourite vacation?
I simply love to travel. My favourite trip was Ravangla and Pelling.
Q) Where did you go for recent vacation?
I recently went to North Sikkim with my parents, in April this year. We went to Lachen and Lachung in North Sikkim via Kalimpong and Gangtok.
Q) When did you start writing poetry? What do you like to write about?
I started writing poetry when I was bored during the lockdown due to the pandemic in 2020. I tend to write about spiritual thoughts and affection of God for his creations.
Astounding Love Of God
As I open the window, your face beams,
Joy ushers in my home and everything gleams
Nobody understands my feelings, nobody knows my hopes,
God greets me every time, guiding my great emotions,
Entering my dreams and giving my life new directions.
Like a puddle or an ocean, every aspiration faulters,
Astounding God never jeers at his agonized daughters.
Q) Please tell about your archery practice.
I haven't taken archery classes yet. My mamma makes me practice at home. I plan to take archery classes soon and would love to participate in competitions in future.
Q) What is your favourite book/movie?
Cinderella
Q) Would you like to share your future plans with us?
I want to prove myself to the world. I want to become a scientist and help children like me and their families and help make the world a better place for people with autism.
Q) Amazing, Devanshi! How was the experience of writing for the book - Talking Fingers?
I found it absolutely lovely to share my thoughts for the book 'Talking Fingers'.
I hope you loved reading this interview. Read our book - Talking Fingers to meet sixteen such non-speaking autistics and read their thoughts and aspirations. You can purchase the book on Amazon
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed by the guest in this interview are their own independent opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the host and owner of the blog. Readers are advised to exercise their own discretion and seek professional advice where necessary.
