Renowed designer had hard childhood

Renowed designer had hard childhood

JAKARTA (JP): Harry Darsono is blessed with exceptional
talents. Besides being renowned as one of Indonesia's foremost
couturiers, he is also a painter, a teacher and a musician.

But his current success did not come overnight. Only a few
people know that this gifted artist went through an extremely
difficult period during his childhood.

"I was a physically weak child because when I was born in
1951, I was premature," he said.

This physical weakness, coupled with severe language
difficulties, made Harry's childhood lonely and frustrating.

"I could not utter a single word until I was nine years old,"
remembered Harry, whose distinguished works of embroidery have
made him famous in the domestic and international fashion scenes.

Today, medical experts would have diagnosed Harry as having a
learning disability, but in the late l950s and early l960s such
disorders were usually unnoticed by medical and educational
professionals.

"I grew up as a little 'criminal' in order to attract people's
attention, to burn off my excess energy and to channel my anger,"
Harry recalled.

He was constantly in trouble as a child. One time, he cut up
his sisters's dresses. He also played with knives and other
dangerous tools, and once banged up his father's new car. Yet,
even as a child, Harry was an artist, and his paintings were hung
on the walls, gates and curtains of the family home.

As the fifth of the Darsono's eight children, Harry enjoyed
certain privilege within this large family, owner of the Wismilak
cigarette factory in East Java.

"I was lucky to have been brought up by devoted parents and
caring siblings. Especially my mother, who has always been so
understanding and patient," said the 47 year-old designer,
looking at his elderly mother.

Harry's mother, Hajah Marjam Darsono, recently shared her
experiences with dozens of parents from the Pantara school for
children with learning disabilities.

"Raising eight kids, with one suffering from learning and
language difficulties, was really a mammoth task for me," Mrs.
Darsono recalled.

To educate her son, Mrs. Darsono sent Harry to a special
school for the physically and mentally disabled in Surabaya, East
Java, but Harry showed no signs of progress.

"I was so dismayed but I would never give up hope. My motherly
instincts told me that he was as normal as other kids," she said.

Harry was later sent to Paris and London, where he attended
schools for children with special needs, and his intellectual and
artistic talents began to develop. He later graduated from the
prestigious London College of Fashion's Department of Clothing
Technology in Britain. He also earned a degree in psychology from
London University.

"I learned from my own experience that kids with LDs (learning
difficulties) only need special treatments and diverse learning
methods. In Indonesia, many of them are unable to access such
educational systems," said Harry, who is now an active advocate
for parents of students with LDs, and unemployed youth.

Harry's success story is just one of thousands of such
examples. A large number of famous people are reported to have
suffered from serious learning difficulties during their
childhood.

A few examples are the scientists Albert Einstein and Thomas
Edison, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, children's
story writer Hans Christian Andersen, and more contemporary
figures like Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yeuw. In
Indonesia there is businessman Ciputra, movie actor Dede Yusuf
and many more successful individuals.

"Parents must not be discouraged if they find out that their
children have learning problems. But many of them cannot accept
their kids' shortcomings," said Mrs. Darsono.

Children's conditions have always been associated with
parents' sense of worth and self-esteem, and if they find that
their kids are not "perfect", they become upset and confused, she
added.

Norman Indrajit, a mother of a second-grader, Raymond, said
that she and her husband realized that their son had a learning
problem, but they were very confused and did not know what to do.

"We were utterly depressed, not only by the apparent lack of
schools accessible to children like ours, but also by the
shortage of information available to parents," Mrs. Indrajit
said.

Raymond's parents looked for years to find an appropriate
school for their son, who suffers from motor and coordination
problems. With these difficulties, it is hard for the seven-year
old Raymond to master writing and other motor skills.

"It was really relieving to find Pantara School, which teaches
students like Raymond. The school has helped him to be more
outgoing and gain more self-confidence," she said.

Not all parents are as lucky as the Indrajits, and may not
even be aware that their children have learning disabilities.

To help these parents, Pantara Foundation established Parents'
Group. The primary aim of the group is to bring together parents
of children with learning difficulties in order to help each
other through the exchange of ideas and information.

Ida Kadarusno and Dini, executives at Pantara Foundation,
emphasized that parents are not only the first educators of their
children, but they will have to acquire the expertise and obtain
all the available information on LDs in order to deal with their
children's problems.

She added that the best way to educate children with LDs is to
closely involve teachers, parents and professionals, including
child psychologists, physiotherapists, medical experts and
education specialists.

To provide more information on LDs, Pantara Parents Group
plans to hold regular meetings featuring experts in related
fields as guest speakers.

"We eagerly welcome parents, teachers, child experts and those
who are interested in this subject to join the meetings and share
their expertise and experience with us," she said.

In the long term, Pantara Parents Group will expand its
network to include both local and international organizations
dealing with education for children with LDs.

For those interested in joining the group, please contact the
Pantara Foundation at phone/fax: (021) 7234581-82; e-mail
address: Pantara@Pacific.net.id. (raw)