Dhanashekhar is over 20 years and stays in Puducherry. He has a mild intellectual Disability and communicates in Tamil only. He is the only child of his parents. Both his parents have a mild Intellectual Disability as well. They were unable to get a medical diagnosis of their son as they were unaware. They earn a paltry amount through cattle rearing in their village located in the Villupuram district in the state of Tamil Nadu, about 30-40 kms from Puducherry.
Dhanashekhar continued to attend the regular school there until grade 9 , unable to understand or perform well , and unwilling to go to school each day. Due to his under-performance, he was treated like an outcast, sitting alone, uncared for, and friendless. He wandered around bare feet, unkempt and isolated. His aunt who stays in Puducherry, has a grand daughter who has an intellectual Disability. She noticed similarities between him and her grand-daughter, she concluded that he required special care. She brought him to her home in Puducherry.
At the age of 15 , Dhanshekhar was admitted to Satya Special School and joined Special Olympics there. He was quiet, with no social relationships and poor communication. The sports field attracted him and he willingly joined Basketball and Handball. Sports made him feel accepted. Seeing other players dressed well, he too started to take care and dress adequately. He has grown to be independent, as his parents never really could take care of him. He has never been aggressive, but sports gave him a purpose. He travelled to several cities for sports camps, meeting athletes, coaches and talking about sports. The first time he flew to a camp, he was very excited. He participated in the ESPN virtual Basketball competition and frequently visited the Indira Gandhi Sports Stadium for practices. The Coaches there trained him, making him feel very comfortable. He is under the mentorship of Coaches Ramji and Anandu.
Mr Kannan who is the project coordinator at the Satya Special school has been associated with Special Olympics since 2009. He oversees overall development and exposure of all the students of the school. Dhanashekhar is also part of a training program at a factory located nearby. It manufactures nuts and bolts and Dhanashekhar oversees quality checking there. He has observed how different activities contributes to the development of persons with Intellectual Disabilities. “Sports builds confidence ; it shows them what the athletes can do . It helps them build physical fitness which also adds to their confidence”, says he. Moreover he emphasizes that by far sports provides the best platform for Inclusion, as against the others. He says this as, he bears witness to the transformation in Dhanashekhar and many others.
Dhanashekhar continues to push his limits as he wants to settle for nothing than the best at the World Games. He practices thrice a week at the basketball association, playing with the mainstream players there. He is good at dribbling and passing. Unified Sports transported him from being under-confident to being comfortable playing and conversing with his team. He has been going to the grounds for about two years, but has been very regular for the past eight months. Earlier, the mainstream players did not really understand Unified Sports and disability sports. Through the intervention of Coach Anandu, who has been a coach with Special Olympics for about 10 years now, a well-coordinated unified team has emerged. Several exhibition-matches and talks were conducted before this change came about. Dhanashekhar understands and is conscious of dressing appropriately, wearing shoes etc.
He also, participated in the Virtual Football competition held last year and played very well at the ESPN Virtual Basketball competitions organized recently by SO Bharat.
