When Systems Leave Children Behind, One Parent Decides to Build a Different Path!
"Our circumstances may influence our path, but they do not have to define the size of our ambitions."
For Shakeeb and his wife, Saman Khan, inclusion is more than a professional commitment. It is a question he has encountered as a physiotherapist, researcher, and, most personally, as a father.
Based in Bengaluru, Shakeeb Ahmed Khan began his career in physiotherapy before expanding into disability and development, programme management, research, and organisational strategy.
He holds a Bachelor’s in Physiotherapy from Ravi Nair College, a Master’s in Disability Rehabilitation Administration from NIEPID, and a PhD in Management Studies from Bangalore University, where he researched workplace inclusion for persons with disabilities.
His professional journey taught him that rehabilitation cannot end when a clinical goal is achieved. Can a child enter a classroom? Can an adult find meaningful employment? Can a person participate in family life and feel accepted in their community? These questions have shaped his work with NGOs, government stakeholders, and international organisations, including WHO and CBM.
Then, parenthood brought these questions home.
Shakeeb and his wife, experienced the challenges of finding appropriate educational opportunities for their son, Yusuf, who is autistic and has ADHD.
Their difficulties navigating school environments brought a painful reality into focus: even when families actively seek support, suitable opportunities may remain out of reach.
For Shakeeb, this reinforced a difficult question: what happens to children who do not fit into existing systems?
In 2025, he founded CIPHER Foundation to help create a different possibility.
CIPHER stands for Community Initiative for Promotion of Health, Education and Rehabilitation. The foundation aims to bridge gaps in access to education and rehabilitation for children with and without disabilities.
Its work seeks to create opportunities for 20 children who have been unable to access education. For Shakeeb , this is about more than providing services. It is about creating spaces where children are welcomed, their individual needs are recognised, and families are treated as partners rather than passive recipients of support. He believes therapy and education must complement each other, giving every child opportunities to learn, participate, and develop.
His journey has moved between clinical practice, research, development programmes, and social entrepreneurship.
Looking ahead, he hopes to strengthen CIPHER Foundation and help make inclusion a reality across education, healthcare, and workplaces.
His message is simple: Do not wait for perfect circumstances to create change. Start with what you have, learn from lived experience, and build the opportunities you wish existed.
This story was told by Shakeeb Ahmed Khan and published with their permission by the What's Your Story editorial team.
