Growth and development of the Differently Abled Children: A study of DISHA of Cachar district

Disability is an impairment that may be cognitive, physical, sensory, developmental, intellectual or some combination of all these. It substantially affects a person’s normal life activities and may be present from birth or may occur during a person’s lifetime. The constructs around disability are very narrow in the Indian social structure where individuals with disability, especially in rural areas are not given chances of potential learning, growth, development or employability. However, the civil societies play a major role on working with individuals with disabilities as well as the families that have a disabled person at home through various services, awareness and by providing resources. The context of disability has undergone radical changes to bring into focus the special needs of the individuals with certain disability, the scope for normalization of the life of the person with disability as well as the potential for empowerment. Civil Societies have been instrumental in reaching the semi-urban and rural populations for working with people with disabilities; making resources accessible to them and working on a need based approach for the people with disabilities. This study focused on one such organization, DISHA that works with children with disabilities in Cachar District of Assam. The study tries to analyze how civil society in semi-urban areas function and how it create impacts the lives of the children with disabilities and their families.