Anandhi Sivakumar worked together with son Aditya to help him empower, learn & earn

Aditya Mahesh from Chennai was diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age. His growing up years were hard. But this youngster has beaten all odds to work, earn and live independently. Today, he works with prominent Buhari Lagoon Beach Resort in the city.

26-year-old Aditya Mahesh was diagnosed with dyslexia and was a slow learner too. But this youngster has beaten his disability to work and live independently. Aditya, who is from Chennai, is currently working at the front office of prominent Buhari Lagoon Beach Resort. With the support of his family, Aditya is gearing up to explore more and even a build a strong career. Read more about his journey.

Growing up years

Aditya’s childhood was not too exciting like many others. His mother Anandhi Sivakumar recollects that Aditya never even had friends or peer group with whom he would hang out. This youngster had epilepsy and seizures at the age of two. So growing up years after diagnosis was hard, especially when he started off at a CBSE school.

I had to be with him at school every day. Aditya was only able to copy what was told to him. So teaching him was a tough task. Moreover, the school was not inclusive. There was no awareness about disabilities at all. That made things tougher for us. Soon he was thrown out of the school. Gradually, even I started learning more about dyslexia in my own ways so that I could help him- Anandhi Sivakumar.

Aditya completed his class 10 and 12 from National Open School (NOS). Since he was not keen on reading and writing, Anandhi made sure to stay by him and teach him amidst all odds. Aditya even completed a B.Sc in Animation and Visual effects. Though he successfully did the course, his interest lied somewhere else. As a doting mother, Anandi had to find that out.

Working towards his passion

Anandhi and her husband Sivakumar had their own company where Aditya used to work for around six months. But he was not happy there. That made his parents more worried. He then completed a Diploma in Hotel Management. But for a youngster with a disability, it is not too easy to find a job in a world which is not at all inclusive!

“Aditya started staying indoors. He used to waste his entire time watching TV and that made things worse for him. He used to have behavioral issues which were hard for me also to handle”, says Anandhi.

That is when Anandhi came to know about Chennai based SCAN, a parent support group. Through SCAN, she came to know about V-ExceL where Aditya was trained for over 9 months. From there, he was placed at the Buhari resort.

Aditya loves interacting with people. So his skills were channeled towards that. At Buhari resort,he works in the front office and handles all the works for their three auditoriums.

“After bringing up Aditya, I realized that parents of children with disabilities must be supportive and understand their child’s needs. We never know what they are thinking inside their head. We must never neglect or discriminate them”, says Anandhi.

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