"“"Don't mistake innocence for ignorance. Don't mistake purity for inexperience. Don't mistake humility for weakness. I sincerely mean this. You understand more than you know." "
...John Reuben
V-Excel News
Diwali, a very special occasion for all, was celebrated on October 20th. As usual our children, their siblings and their parents joined in the festivity and filled the evening with smiles and sparklers. Keeping in view the sensitivity of many of our children to sound, and the noise pollution hazard, we had crackers that literally 'lit' up our premises. We really cherish these happy moments together!
Dr. Vasudha was invited to a meeting at Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) on the 12th-13th of October 2011. The meeting was attended by stalwarts from the sector who discussed various issues concerning the disability sector. The objective of the meeting was to work on policy matters and create a book, edited by experts in the respective field, for various disability areas.
A first of a series of workshops for teachers from various mainstream schools in Chennai commenced this month. This is a joint program by V-Excel Educational trust and Kuruvilla Jacob Initiative. We plan to have three 3-day modules over the year for nearly 70 educators. The focus is on orientation towards disabilities and increasing the effectiveness of teaching strategies for children of varied intellects in a classroom.
As a part of our monthly music program, we had organized a concert by Smt. Vijayalakshmy Subramaniam, a well-known Carnatic singer. Special children of our school, some parents, teachers and other invitees were witness to the melodious afternoon. We sincerely thank her for spending her precious time with our students and helping us enhance their development in many different faculties.
Kaleisdoscope Learning Centre
The month of October was filled with different experiences and new exposures. Thanks to Ability Foundation, some of our older children, with few teachers and parents, were invited to participate in the International Film Festival on Disability. The children who went were came back with a deep impacted.
We also had the opportunity to visit Kalakshetra and participate as audience to scintillating performances by renowned musicians and dancers.
Sex Education workshops, conducted for our adolescent children by the Counseling Department were completed this month.
In yet another breakthrough event for KLC, the children of Pre-Voc and Upper 3 had an overnight stay in a village house. Given the limited infrastructure and resources, everyone had to contribute in terms of work. Going around the place and enjoying its scenic beauty was as enjoyable as the cooking and cleaning up that followed. It was a huge learning experience for all and the experience has motivated teachers and parents to do conduct outings more often. At this juncture, it seems like the most important inclusion training in the curriculum for the older children.
Academy for Teacher Excellence
We had organized a valedictory function on October 11 to felicitate the students of our Certificate Course on Learning Disabilities (LD). The course not just helped identify such children but also gave many hands on strategies to work with them in a manner that they can eventually cope with the age-appropriate curriculum. The trainees were a mixed group, including parents of children with learning difficulties and those who were considering it purely as a profession. We got rave reviews on the course contents as well as its application-oriented approach.
We shall be organizing the LD Certificate Course again shortly and also look forward to introducing few others in a similar format.
Early Intervention Unit
A diet plan was implemented for all the children. Based on the child's age, nutritional requirement, medical challenges that the child suffers, and his/her physical development, necessary modifications to the diet were suggested. The children are put on the individual diet plan for three weeks and a review will be undertaken prior to any further changes.
Our group remedial work with young children is progressing well. The importance of group play has been emphasized and children are given appropriate facilitation in group on various aspects of play and for learning specific play skills.
We recently conducted a short-term training program for out-station parents, who had come in for a brief visit to the city and our center so as to get intervention for their child. These parents returned equipped with some daily tips for ensuring a consistent approach.
Bridges Learning Academy
The second term began with the Saraswathi Pooja and children's active participation. The day is marked to worship, Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning and Knowledge, and this pooja is a symbolic custom for all school-going children.
All the children had performed well in their first term examination; this has given them immense confidence and encouragement. Their enthusiasm to work harder is a manifestation of their motivation!
As a part of the field trip, our children were taken to the IIT Madras campus. Children enjoyed their tour around the vast area and were especially enthralled when they saw the deer and stags running around openly. It was a unique experience for them.
We also visited the food mall housed in the IIT campus. The finer works of the kitchen (cutting, chopping, peeling) and different apparatus used for kneading, peeling, slicing were exhibited and explained in detail. The children also got to see the warehousing of fruits and vegetables in cold storage. The highlight of the trip was our tasty lunch at the food court.
Children also participated in the Diwali celebrations at school and burst crackers in the midst of their teachers, friends and family.
V-Excel Remedial Centre
We are very happy to welcome Mrs. Jayanthi Srinivasan on board as our new Coordinator for VRC; our earlier coordinator Veronica had to move away. Jayanthi has been with V-Excel earlier and is hence familiar with our work and our insistence on quality of remediation. We are confident that she will bring in her strengths and take VRC to a higher plane.
This month saw an addition of six new children to the Unit, all coming in for one-on-one remedial support, post their school hours. Their individual programs have been drawn up, after the assessment, and we have started working with them. The children are slowly warming up and we hope to see them progress ahead soon.
Rural Outreach Program
Awareness camps were the main activity this month. We organized camps in all the nine blocks. The participation was overwhelming, including regular school children as well as special children. The camps began in October and are expected to go on for another month.
The awareness camps comprise a host of activities to reach the village population. Distribution of handbills, procession, rallies, parent meetings, information about government benefits, use & maintenance of appliances, meeting various teachers for IED orientation, prevention and early intervention were the different ways in which we tried to reach the public. We also had awareness meetings for different self-help groups, Scout, Guide and NSS members. The aim is to see that the acceptance of individuals with special needs increases and the identification and remediation starts as early as possible.
We are planning to open a cluster resource room at Olakkur shortly.
Vocational Training Unit
VTU reopened on 6th October, with Saraswati Pooja, a day marked for celebrating Godsess Saraswati, an Indian deity of knowledge.
An important activity of calendar-making commenced after various trials and experiments with different material types such as cloth and paper. After having finalized this, all the the teachers and trainees have now taken up calendar work as a special project and are all working very hard towards its timely completion.
Golu, a Navratri festival of dolls, was celebrated in Sre-yes. Devotional songs were sung by Revathi in the morning and by Vidya in the afternoon; they were enthusiastically joined by trainees. Devotes from ISKON also came especially for these celebrations and chanted songs and danced. All the teachers, parents and children of EI and VTU participated. In addition, Vasudha, Aunty, along with Lalli Chitti and Chinna Chitti came in. The other guests included Mrs. Pattammpa Srinivasan, Lekha Narayanan, Maitriye, and Jaya Madhavan.
A few parents, staff members and trainees visited Sathyam Theatre for watching the India International Special film festival organized by Ability Foundation. It was a very different experience for the trainees and they really enjoyed this outing with a difference.
Diwali lunch was hosted by Lalitha and Usha, the Unit Heads for our Early Intervention and Vocation Training respectively, for all staff and trainees of the Center. Food and fun beautifully blended, bringing in an air of festivity to the entire function!
Ms. Chandrika has stepped in to help with the coordination of VTU, since Shikha, who was shouldering the responsibility, has some health issues and needs compulsory rest. We welcome her in our family and look forward to her inputs for the Unit.
Counseling and Assessment Unit
The Counseling department has had many interesting workshops and interactions during this month. We conducted a safety and sex education workshop for the parents of the older group of students. The workshop focused on issues such as boundaries, safety, touch aspect and the needs of adolescent and pre-adolescent children. It also gave insights into how to teach children ADLs (Activities of Daily Living), the importance of independence and the specific needs of children with special needs. It was extremely well received and it was heartening to see the parents take part in the discussions with an open mind.
Our monthly workshops with healthcare associates for one of the corporates have commenced. The first one was on 'Stress Management - Keeping Physically and Mentally Fit'. It was a very interactive workshop with diverse queries coming in from the professionals. The new addition this time was the inclusion of associates from other cities who participated in the workshop via a teleconference facility.
We have been receiving invitations to conduct workshops on stress management and resilience from colleges for graduate students. It indeed is an indicator of the pressures today's competitive world is imposing on our children. These workshops are expected to start in November '11. Each workshop has a customized need, making it not just challenging but interesting for us to work on.
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
