"If, like sheep, we acquiesce in herd morality, we will be nothing but mediocrities. But if we release ourselves by giving free rein to our will to power, we will tap our potentiality for
creativity and originality..."
...Nietzsche
V-Excel News
V-Excel's Satellite Centers at Nashik and Tirunelveli, offering Remedial and Early Childhood services for children with special
needs, are progressing very well. With emphasis is on quality work, we try to see that every child who is under our care gets
the best possible attention and support. We are in a resource-building phase and welcome community support. Many parents expressed
gladness over the fact that there is now a professional service provider for their children in these cities.
Dr. Vasudha Prakash attended a very crucial sector meeting at Kolkata, aimed at developing a strategy paper for development
and inclusion of persons with disabilities. Key people from Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI), along with policy makers and
influencers were a part of these discussions.
Our Director, Dr. Vasudha, was invited on All India Radio for an awareness program. She spoke of the importance of being
observant with regards to a child's development milestones, and that early identification and appropriate intervention were critical
factors that significantly benefitted children with development lags or disabilities. The program was relayed in the local
language.
One of the events that always has everyone enjoying is the Water Day! Two large inflatable pools filled with water adorned our
front yard. Children came prepared with swimsuits and had wonderful time splashing water on each other. Several akkas (helpers) got
drenched and joined in the fun. All in all, the teachers, counselors, therapists, children and akkas, all had a fun wet day!
Kaleisdoscope Learning Centre
In a debut event, the children of Class 3A performed an impromptu play - by the children, of the children and for the
children! It was conceptualized entirely by Vishal and he had all his classmates acting out the parts and developing the story
line. This play has been around for the season and has been performed for various audiences. It is amazing to see that the
freedom given during the play therapy sessions have had a result so tangible in creativity and so purposeful in the initiative
taken!
KLC celebrated Water Day on the 10th of July and, as usual, it was a time for social, sensory, and physical activity and
play. It was accompanied by jollity, fun and a breaking down of the boundaries between teachers and students. Everyone,
children and adults alike, let their hair down and enjoyed the water play on this occasion.
Block 2 started on Monday, 25th July; all the classes have got geared up for the new topics for the forthcoming month.
The school has organized 'Open days' and each class invited parents to come and observe the classes for some time every
day. Such sessions give parents a chance to watch their children in action and are usually followed by an address by the
class teacher for clearing all their doubts.
Academy for Teacher Excellence
The Certificate course in Specific Learning Disabilities (LD) commenced on Saturday, 9th of July. On this day, an
orientation to the course was given to the trainees. This time the batch consists of professionals coming from diverse
fields such as Management, Education and Banking. There are also parents of children with Learning Disabilities, keen
to train their children after the completion of the course.
Lectures for the LD course started from Sunday, 10th July. The interest shown by trainees and the discussions were
invigorating and all the trainees felt that their weekend was well-spent! We shall be continuing the weekend classes
at least for the next two months
Early Intervention Unit
The focus in the month of July has been on organizing and implementation of group program. Children who have been admitted
in primary schools have moved hand-in-hand with the Early Intervention program, so that the support given to them can be
gradually weaned off as they settle down completely in schools.
Motor coordination, communication and social skills training have been emphasized in IEP (Individualized Education Plan)
for every child for this term. We have also implemented age appropriate play skills to enhance their communication.
The current Early Intervention team consists of 7 Therapists and 4 Special Educators, ably assisted by 3 administration
staff and 3 support staff. We are hence able to cater to over 75 children who come in with developmental lags and benefit
greatly from the early identification and intervention therapy as well as remedial support.
Review meetings with all the parents have been completed. It really gives us great joy that as many as 10 children have
been mainstreamed and taken out of the Early Intervention program.
Bridges Learning Academy
Water Day was celebrated with great fun and gusto by our children. All the students enjoyed it tremendously.
The children greeted Dr. Vasudha Prakash on her arrival from her stay in the US and presented her with a specially
made welcome placard.
One of our older students, Burhan, recently got placed in Saraswathi Kendra Learning Centre in Class X. Efforts from
our school and the teachers made this possible. We would like to congratulate him and wish him the very best.
After having settled down, the children from BLA have got into the groove and are seriously going about with their
studies
V-Excel Remedial Centre
Two new teachers, Ms. Latha and Ms. Pushpa, who completed their Diploma course in Autism from V-Excel's Academy of
Teacher Excellence, joined the VRC team. We would like to welcome them aboard.
The team took part in an in-service program conducted by Puja and Anandhi of our Counseling Department. An exercise
in Art Therapy helped the staff interpret art expression and threw light on some of their unresolved personal issues.
Puja taught the special educators a few movement patterns that form the initial part of the remedial program. The
movements, based on the anthroposophy philosophy, prepare the child for the class and also have a therapeutic effect on them.
We are seeing an encouraging impact of this movement program.
The Coordinator ensured that the remedial program designed specifically for every child was implemented from this month.
Rural Outreach Program
Several modifications are being made to the functioning and implementation of our rural program in Villipuram. These are
being undertaken as per the government guidelines.
As a part of the Government's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan project, there was a National training program on Autism for
special educators. Mrs. Gita Bhalla, Principal of our special school, conducted a workshop that was attended by many
teachers across various institutions. It was extremely well-received and appreciated by the participants.
Vocational Training Unit
John has conducted two sessions on 12 Senses for all the VTU Teachers. It is really very interesting to hear how crucial
it is to develop all our lower senses, as it affects the development of our higher senses.
Movement therapy has begun on a regular basis on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with Ms. Bhavana, one of the
volunteers.
An outstation trip to the rural area near Kumbakonam is planned between 4th-6th August. Train tickets have been
booked; all the trainees and teachers are excited and have started planning enthusiastically.
Mr. Kannan Kumar from Aseema Trust started teaching Folk dance 'Oyilattam' on Saturdays between 10-11 a.m. The
trainees look forward to this session.
Smirithy Babu, a Sociology student from MOP Vaishnava College, has completed one month long internship at VTU.
On 16th July, a session and demo on 'First Aid' was conducted by 'St. John Ambulance' staff. We felt this is an
important aspect of independence training to our students.
Founder's Day was celebrated at 'Sreyes' on 22nd July. Mrs. Usha Rajagopalan, our Unit Head, threw light on the
life of Mr.S.Viswanathan, founder of ESVI Sarada Foundation. Dr. Vasudha and Prakash also joined in the function;
Vasudha sang a 'bhajan'. We had a group of devotees from ISKCON participating and singing keertan'.
Parent Support Group meeting was addressed by Dr. Vasudha. She shared her experiences on life of adults with
special needs, their self-advocacy, and about group home facilities in United States.
As a part of our vocational development program, a new Paper Cup-making machine was installed. We were glad that
the DDRO (District Disabled Rehabilitation Officer) could spare some time through his busy schedule and inaugurate it.
Our trainees have started training on it and are really picking up well!
Counseling and Assessment Unit
July was a busy month. Two of our Pychologists attended an Art and Drama workshop which was conducted by an Israeli
therapist, Dr. Nira Kaplansky, and arranged by Krita Experiential. It was an enlightening experience; they learned how to use Art and Drama in various
therapeutic situations like couple therapy, grief therapy etc.
Parimal, our Unit Head, attended a foundation course on Anthroposophical Biography which was conducted in Bangalore
by AMS India and facilitated by the German Anthroposophist Mr. Karl Heinz. This gave insights into how decisions and
events in our earlier ages reflect in the later life. It helped us notice some patterns in our behaviors. An elaborate
training will be imparted over four years and will certify the attendees to conduct the training in India.
Play therapy sessions for the special school have begun for all classes and groups. It has been very gratifying to
see children making use of it, thoroughly.
One of the schools has shown an interest in our orientation program, on Learning Difficulty, for their teachers and
parents. Our psychologists addressed the group of parents in their school orientation and reiterated the need for
mindful parenting.
Contact Information
V-Excel Educational Trust
#1 Norton 2nd Street
Mandaveli Chennai 600 028
Tel: 91 - 44 - 24620243
91 - 44 - 24956373 E-mail us or visit us at www.v-excel.org
V-Excel Center for Research and Rehabilitation
(In assocation with S.V. Sarada Foundation)
50 Sreyes, M.G. Road
Shastri Nagar, Chennai 600 041
Tel: 91 - 44 - 24522061
91 - 44 - 24521986 E-mail us
Academic Concepts, Inc.
1403 Merrywood Drive
Edison New Jersey 08817
Tel: (732) 572-3748
Tax ID: 22-3632715 E-mail us
