Lucknow, May 11 -- Mothers with nerves of steel and hearts of gold have taken on the challenge of raising children with special needs and redefined their lives with a never say die spirit, not letting the difficulties deter or shatter them. Putting their careers aside, some of them became homemakers to give complete attention to their children. Others began learning about various therapies and conditions. They are now helping other such mothers through social initiatives. Take the case of Swati Sharma whose priorities changed when her son Antriksh was diagnosed with the rarest combination of congenital abnormalities which made him deal with autism and cerebral palsy. "After Antriksh was born, I believe I received a re-birth when I discovered several new things. However, when life felt like a struggle, I chose to be a survivor instead of being a victim. When I enrolled Antriksh into a special school, I joined the school myself to also learn therapies and later worked as in-charge and principal before starting a society for differently abled kids. I studied again after quitting formal education long back just to provide the utmost care and fulfill requirements of my child," said Sharma. Antriksh passed away about a year back, but Sharma continues to run the society in his memory. Dr Garima Verma, who was a paediatrician at a government hospital in Chandigarh and a gold medallist throughout her academic career, gave up her dreams and plans just to provide all her attention and care to her son Krishang, now 13-years'-old, who is dealing with autism spectrum disorder. "I prioritised Krishang over everything. The support from my family helped me give all my attention to him. Initially, I used to sit outside his classroom just to see he did not get engaged with himself, which could have been harmful at his age and condition," said Verma, who now works as a medical consultant at Reserve Bank of India. Shweta Chawla was a teacher but became a homemaker just to support her daughter Baani who deals with vision impairment. "I was carrying twin daughters, and we lost Baani's sister at the time of their birth. Doctors had kept Baani under active oxygen for 25 days which led to Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) which led to her losing vision. I chose to be with my daughter and got her admitted in a normal school. From nursery to class 10, I used to sit by her side after she returned from school and read out all the chapters and notes for her - as if I studied with her all over again," said Chawla. She said she enjoyed working hard with her daughter. Mala Nigam was a teacher till her son Rakshit was born with autism. Her life changed forever and eventually she become a special educator. "We were questioned and judged at times. I had a financial crunch at home. Affording expensive therapies was difficult. So I chose to volunteer at various organisations just to learn them for my son. Now, I work as a full-time special educator," Nigam said....