How this Mumbai mom learnt swimming for her autistic daughter

When Mumbaibased Jiya Rai a girl with Autism Spectrum Disorder became the youngest and fastest paraswimmer in the world to successfully swim across the English Channel in 2024 at the mere age of 16 the world hailed her achievementInterestingly a lesserknown aspect of her success is that of her motherrsquos efforts While both parents took the initiative the teenrsquos mother went beyond the ordinary to learn swimming only so that she could teach her daughter the skill While she couldnrsquot predict the future Rachana Rai made sure she left no stone unturned to help her daughter After all they have come a long way since her birthEmbracing her daughterrsquos autism diagnosis When 44yearold Rai who was an organic chemistry teacher gave birth to Jiya in 2008 little did she know that her life would change after her daughterrsquos autism diagnosis At the time I was balancing my work which included a teaching job at a school and tuitions for students of eighth and ninth grade along with my responsibilities as a mother However on Jiyarsquos second birthday we observed that her behaviour was different than other kids She used to play with toys differently She wasnrsquot able to speak by then After several tests doctors told us that she had autismrdquo the Colaba resident sharesldquoMy husband Madan Rai an Indian Navy officer and I are both educated but we knew nothing about the condition We were informed that wersquoll have to take support of therapies and Jiya will always have to be dependent on othersrdquo she addsWhile it took some time and research for the parents to understand the condition Rachana refused to abide by comments that wanted to make her believe that Jiya would never have a career She explains ldquoMy life changed as a mother at that point But I believed that if God has given this life there might be a reason I decided that I will listen to advice and take help from others but I wonrsquot accept that my child wonrsquot have a careerrdquo After her daughterrsquos autism diagnosis Rachana left her job at the school in 2011 but continued to give tuitions but even that was about to changeChanging peoplersquos perception The Mumbaikar gave birth to her second child ndash a son ndash in 2012 while also taking care of her daughter and managing work It didnrsquot get easier as gradually people started noticing Jiyarsquos mannerisms and passing negative comments She expresses ldquoPeople would take their kids away from her and say things like lsquoHume aapka bacha paagal lagta hai We think your child is madrsquo Her admission in school was also challenging as we were told to enroll her in a special school Therersquos no problem with that but I felt that communicating and mingling with kids who are not like her would bring a difference So we kept trying and she was admitted on the condition that her progress would be reviewed in a yearrdquo the mother of two children revealsHowever everyone there viewed her from a lens of sympathy only until a swimming event at school changed things The Mumbai mother shares ldquoWhen Jiya participated in the competition she won two gold medals People looked at her differently after that Everyone clapped I saw an opportunity and thought that she might finally get the respect she deserved through swimmingrdquoThis journey wasnrsquot without challenges While some swimming schools in Mumbai refused to enroll her other trainers were unable to teach her in a way suitable to her learning process Rachana found only one way out ndash to personally get involved in her daughterrsquos swimming journeyldquoI told the trainer lsquoYou teach me and Irsquoll teach my childrsquo I was a complete nonswimmer So I learnt it stepbystep and started teaching her I observed that visual cues are her strength and she used to listen to me more than others I taught her different strokes I would show her swimming videos and the visual aspect helped herrdquo she says Rachana stopped taking tuitions and dedicated her time to mentoring her daughter and helping her son with studiesIn the process she has given up so much but did she ever regret giving up her job ldquoI did leave my job for her but itrsquos not a sad sacrifice My husband and I both help train her but I decided to give more time because she understands me better Jiya won her first national swimming championship in 2019 Her awards include the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puruskar in 2022 and the National Award for Disability in 2023 among many others She has 39 gold medals in swimming When I look at her achievements I feel extremely proud Yehi meri achievement hai yehi mera profession hai yehi meri salary hai this is my achievement this is my profession this is my salaryrdquo she expresses excitedlyWith a Masterrsquos degree in Organic Chemistry Rachana did want to advance her career and become a scientist but life had other plans The best part is that shersquos not complaining In fact the Mumbai mother counts her blessings ldquoI remember one incident where we had gone to a temple There after praying to God Jiya ne mere saamne haath joda Jiya folded her hands in front of me One lady told me that at a place of worship she is keeping you at an equal pedestal as God so never give up on her That has stayed with me I believe that we should instill so much ability in those with special needs that the disability takes a backseatrdquo she concludesAlso ReadA momrsquos mantra Donrsquot take your home to work and donrsquot bring your work homeatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params