“ Every Child is Special”

“A child is like a butterfly in the wind. Some can fly higher than
others, but each one flies the best it can. Why compare one against
the other? Each one is different. Each one is beautiful. Each one is
special.”

Ishaan Awasthi is an eight-year old boy who’s having

difficulties in school. He finds all subjects hard and fails in every
exam. He’s always being criticized and scolded by his parents
and teachers because of his mistakes and inability to cope up
with simple lessons and instructions. But despite of these
difficulties, he has an artistic talent that is unrecognized and
was proved by his creative paintings at home.

One day, he had cut his classes and went roaming

around town all alone. He wandered the streets by himself.  His
father found out about it and got really mad. He decided to
enroll Ishaan to another school, an all-boys boarding school.
This to discipline him, but this didn’t help the poor kid. Instead
it made him lonelier and sadder. His academic performance did
not improve as well. He still experiences the same things in his
previous school.

One day, a substitute art teacher named Ram Shankar

Nikumbh was able to recognize his special needs. The teacher
gathered information about him and was worried when he
realized that the child was suffering from dyslexia. He went to
the child’s home, where he explained the kid’s condition to
Ishaan’s parents. The other teachers thought that he has to be
dealt in a special education program but Ram insisted that
every child has the right to have a formal and quality education
and it is what the “Education for All Policy” holds. Ram helped
Ishaan with the difficulties being brought by dyslexia. He
unveiled the potentials of Ishaan by employing educational
psychology. Ram understood Ishaan’s condition since he went
 CHARACTERS

ISHAAN AWASTHI
An eight-year old boy who is suffering from
dyslexia which caused him problems like inability to
pronounce, spell and write words and difficulty in
following instructions. But despite of having this
condition, he is gifted with an artistic talent that
seems to be unrecognized by everyone.
RAM SHANKAR NIKUMBH
 A substitute art teacher in Ishaan’s school who was
the first to notice the signs and symptoms that Ishaan has
dyslexia. He motivated Ishaan to participate in school and
he also helped him overcome his dyslexia.
3.) What was the condition of Ishaan? Discussed it briefly.

Ishaan is
suffering from
dyslexia, a NANDKISHORE AWASTHI
learning disorder The father of Ishaan Awasthi. As a father, he was
that affects the supposed to be the person who should’ve understood and
supported the difficulties of Ishaan, yet instead, he kept
punishing and deriding him. He kept on avoiding the fact that his
son is mentally challenged, even though all the signs were being
shown in front of him. Due to his pride, he amplified    the pain
and suffering of Ishaan by entering him into the boarding school
and expecting him to cope up with the harsh environment.
MAYA AWASTHI
The mother of Ishaan and Yohan Awasthi. She is
a loving mother, but is really frustrated because she
thinks she has failed in teaching Ishaan.

YOHAN AWASTHI
He is the older brother of Ishaan Awasthi. He is a
lawn tennis player and is always at the top of his every
class. Ishaan was always being compared to him, but still,
they were very close. He loved Ishaan and supported him
especially with his interest in painting.
reading fluency, reading comprehension, spelling, writing and sometimes,
speech. A person with dyslexia has a difficulty in recalling and following
instructions.

Signs and Symptoms of Dyslexia:

 Reads slowly and painfully

 Experiences decoding errors, especially with the order of letters
 Shows wide disparity between listening comprehension and reading
comprehension of some text
 Has trouble with spelling
 May have difficulty with handwriting
 Exhibits difficulty recalling known words
 Has difficulty with written language
 May experience difficulty with math computations
 Decoding real words is better than nonsense words
 Substitutes one small sight word for another: a, I, he, the, there, was

Treatment:
 Therapies

Reference: https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/treatments-
approaches/treatment-options/treatment-for-kids-with-dyslexia

4.) What was the message of the movie? Do you agree or

disagree to it?
The movie wants to express that every child is unique and special.
Every child has his/her own strengths, weaknesses, skills and capabilities.
Actually, the movie gives important messages to both parents and teachers.
Parents should not force their children to be the best in everything, instead,
they should help their children develop the area/aspect they are really good
at. When a child wasn’t able to do a certain task correctly, parents should
not belittle and punish that child because he/she may lose self-confidence.
Besides, the role of parents was shown in the movie wherein the father is the
one who works for the family and the mother is responsible for doing the
house works, budgeting money, developing and taking care of their children.
Parents should not make their children realize that they are a burden to
them because it affects the children’s self-esteem. Another situation
presented in the movie was about the comparison between siblings. Parents
should know that their children are different from each other. Each one of
them has a set of talents and abilities. Parents should not praise or give
compliments to their child in front of their other children because it may
have a great impact to their children’s personality development.

The teachers, on the other hand, must always serve as role models
and second parents to students. Instead of belittling students on the
mistakes they did, teachers should help and guide them to correct and learn
from those mistakes. Besides, teachers should not think that all students
have the same ability. They should not expect the whole class to learn the
lesson as quick as an intelligent student learns the lesson. Teachers should
also have a friendly attitude because students tend to be more comfortable
with them if they are good and very approachable.

5.) What details in the movie are similar in the Philippine

Setting?
The details in the movie similar in the Philippine setting is the lack of
knowledge about dyslexia. Because most people doesn’t know what dyslexia
is all about, they often misunderstand children with this condition as “slow”
and “mentally-retarded”. The value of achievements and merit in the movie
is also similar in the Philippine Setting. Most students in the Philippines
believe that there is nothing more important in school than to gain merit and
recognition for what they do. Though this is not the intention of attending
school, such things happen because of the pressure that some parents put
into their children.

6.) What comment is being made in the movie of what it is

to be a human?
Being a human means accepting all our imperfections and weaknesses
because these make one’s life unique and perfect. To be a human means
discovering and exploring yourself without caring about the criticisms of
other people. You have the freedom to choose whatever you wanted to be.

Being human also means to look out for others especially when they
are in need or in distress. There are times when we neglect such things
because we are afraid to act but that shouldn’t stop us from helping others
because that might spark a change in their life.
 Humans have particular strengths and weaknesses, even if sometimes
the whole world can only see your weaknesses, you should not let this
become a reason to conceal the strength that lies inside you.
7.) Stories can be persuasive. Show how the movie
attempts to persuade viewers to attempts to persuade
viewers to accept the particular values and principles that
the writers intended to promote.
The movie was able to capture the minds and hearts of the viewers
because it presented realistic scenarios that is happening not only in families
but also in the society. The movie wanted to show that disorders, such as
dyslexia, should be normalized and should not indicate that a person is
different from the rest. It wanted to tell the viewers that these disorders are
not and should not be a hindrance to a child’s dream or future. Yes, it may
be an obstacle, but it should not be impossible to get pass such an obstacle.

8.) In what way you were affected by the movie? How can
you apply the lesson in the film to your own life?
This film made me understand the feeling of children suffering from
conditions like this. Instead of seeing them as “burdens” and “useless”, we
should give them attention and love them more because they are special
and if they would be given a chance to choose, they wouldn’t choose to have
a condition. They would choose to live a normal life. The movie wanted to
show that disorders, such as dyslexia, should be normalized and should not
indicate that a person is different from the rest. It wanted to tell the viewers
that these disorders are not and should not be a hindrance to a child’s dream
or future. Yes, it may be an obstacle, but it should not be impossible to get
pass such an obstacle.
The film revealed to me that even mental conditions won’t stop a
person from being great as long as they have the right people with them
through thick and thin. If even those who are mentally challenged can
become excellent in their own ways, then there is no excuse for “normal”
people to complain about the impediments that they face.

-Trisha Lei Regis

- James Andre Diestro
- Rinjo Dacer
-Pauline Dogillo
-Jayvee Pinguel
-Ainsley Anne Pineda
-Faye Villalobos