An anchor who was diagnosed with an imperfect speech
Many -a-times Rohit has led the Special Olympics Athlete oath, he has anchored events to a great big audience without even a hint of nervousness. He has a strong opinion about fitness and does not hesitate to express that Fitness is an essential for everyone, and not just for those who are active in sports. Rohit exercises for about an hour daily, and goes for a 10-minute walk to the ground, close to his house. These are his achievements through his sporting journey in Special Olympics, which make his family proud.
Rohit Raina is 22 years old and is an Athlete from the Delhi, always cheerful and carrying a passion for sports, especially Cricket. He has a learning disability, that began to show, as his growth graph slowed down. He would walk backward; his speech was described, ‘imperfect’, his teachers in his early schooling days complained of his aggressive behaviour wherein he would often bite his classmates and so on. After having ignored a few deflections initially, his parents started to pay attention on Rohit’s milestones, getting certain that those were not coincidences. The neurologist who examined Rohit confirmed their doubts and established a fact that Rohit would always require ‘Special Care’. The special school which he joined also held monthly counselling classes for his parents.
His father, Mr Raman Raina fondly spoke about his son, “The more you love them, more do they behave well and this became my approach to help my son attain his best”. Rohit stays in a joint family where each and every member supports Rohit and have contributed to make him self-reliant. Mr Raina informed his employer not to grant him a promotion beyond a point, so that his work would never take his time away from his son he is so proud of.
Rohit on the other hand, emulates people around him, he checks the doors, water taps and lights of the house, just like his father. He is very social and is concerned about his family members, just as they are.
What he couldn’t gain in studies, he has gained through sports. He is confident. Special Olympics provided a platform to Rohit to carry out his passion, to make friends and to establish an identity as a sportsperson, in his house. When he was preparing for floorball, for the now erstwhile Kazan Winter Games, it was the respect that he earned which mattered. His Coach, Mr Rohit Manchanda, maintains that Rohit is very hard-working and committed to sports. His passion runs deep and that sometimes demoralizes him; but Coach Rohit is always there to counsel him and guide him to continue this journey of developing through the sports he loves. Rohit plays Floorball & Table Tennis and hopes to see Cricket be part of Special Olympics World Games some day
