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Mr Rajendran K. Sethuraj loves teaching but left his job as a junior college lecturer for his son Kirisnah, who is autistic. After spending his primary and secondary school years at Pathlight School, Kirisnah became anxious about studying in the Institute o'My career is now zero': Lecturer quits job to ferry his autistic son around
Mr Rajendran K. Sethuraj loves teaching but left his job as a junior college lecturer for his son Kirisnah, who is autistic. After spending his primary and secondary school years at Pathlight School, Kirisnah became anxious about studying in the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in 2017. His parents decided that Mr Rajendran, 56, would ask for a half-load at work, so he could ferry his son to and from the campus. The arrangement did not work out, so he turned freelance to better cater to his son's school schedule. «My world circles around him. So even when I'm teaching in some schools, I will always tell them that I can come only at 9am and must leave by 3pm,» he says. It has been a bittersweet journey caring for his elder child, who is now age 23 and was a miracle baby after four years of marriage. «My career is now zero,» he lets slip midway through a Zoom interview. His wife, educator Kalyani Kuppusamy, 49, is the main breadwinner and they also have a daughter, Varsha, 15. Read more