"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..."
Dr. Seuss
From the Director's Desk
My dear friends,
It is ten years since V-Excel was incepted! During these years, we have had the privilege of impacting thousands of lives of
special children, their parents and families. However, the more significant experience has been the manner in which the
children have influenced and directed our lives. Our journey has been one of deep inner learning and growth, enriching
encounters and fulfilling connections. Our path has taken us through a process of deeper understanding of human life and
development. We also share these insights with parents, teachers, and others at every possible instance.
Our focus continues to be on:
Enhancing the talents and abilities of special children
Increasing awareness
Facilitating inclusion
I thank all of you for your support and encouragement through the years and I look forward to your being with us as this
journey takes us to greater heights.
Wishing each of you a very Happy and A Prosperous New Year!
With warm regards,
Vasudha Prakash
V-Excel News
Keeping in line with the focus areas mentioned by Dr. Vasudha, we are organizing a festival to celebrate our tenth year of advocacy for special needs. A diverse range of performances, stalls, exhibits, food, games, and products on sale, will make this event unique. We plan to raise awareness about various developmental disabilities and help increase sensitivity for special needs in the community.
Each year, the World Disability Day on 3rd December is marked by some special activity. This year, we were involved in two such programs, one a drawing-colouring event for children from different special schools in the city, and the other was participation in the Chennai Wipro Marathon. The response for both the events was very encouraging and it was really heartening to see many committed volunteers willing to engage themselves in this cause.
Ten staff members attended the annual training program, the IPMT Conference, held in Chennai this year. This week-long residential program attracts teachers, special educators, therapists, doctors, counselors, and other professionals from across the country. The conference, over the years, has progressively helped build a culture of working with a deeper sense of understanding of human beings and their development. A big 'Thank you' to Sundari Aunty (our Managing Trustee), the staff and volunteers who managed the running of the school so ably.
Kaleidoscope Learning Centre
It is the month that Santa comes to town and this time Santa came with his reindeers and sleigh which almost looked like a cycle which he rode right into the group of squealing children! It was marvellous to note that this year we didn't have any 'crouchers' who hid behind their teachers or friends because Santa intimidated them. This year was marked with warm handshakes and hugs and we really wish to thank our visitor from the North Pole, Michael Kokinos , who makes Christmas a specially "feeling" event for the children. This year the program was unhurried as Michael went to every class to distribute gifts that the teachers and parents had helped to buy or get ready. He spent long enough moments for every little child of the school to carry in his heart for some time to come. The sounds of carols were heard almost for the whole month and all classes wore a festive look. Special mention of Grade two where our volunteer from Germany Meline had constructed the most beautiful nativity scene with hand-made dolls.
The students of Grade 4, 5 and Prevocational class have been busy with handwork and have been producing artwork for the approaching festival in January. We wish to showcase much of the work done by our children and the untiring efforts of our teachers for the Great Indian Parade. The event will bring together handwork, performances, and some interaction in the form of our children's poetry. It will offer a peek into the world of our children and we hope to bridge a huge gap between the community and our children with this effort.
Academy for Teacher Excellence
The Volunteers Training program has been a great success. The nine volunteers who were awarded the certificates were so enthused by this training that they planned to come together again and conduct some activities for the parents and children! Some comments by the participants -
"Excellent delivery - helped me understand children's need, parents' emotions, and situations; made me think what all I can do for them. I would like to go in for a full-fledged course now" Mrs. Usha Ramani
"They took us from the known to the unknown and widened our perspective. Flexibility was given to us. Am craving to know more, gain more knowledge" Mrs. Jayashree Bharath
"Got an insight into the causes, symptoms and management of disabilities like Autism, Mental Retardation, and Down Syndrome and learnt how to deal with such children in life situations" Mrs. Radha Naganathan
"I was able to understand the different disabilities more in detail. It has helped me in understanding the child as well as his strengths and weakness better" Mrs. Uma Swaminathan
ATE is very proud to inform all of you that we have the approval as an IGNOU Study Centre to conduct two courses in the area of disabilities - one is a Certificate course in Early Childhood Special Education, and the other is a Parents' Awareness Training Program. Much preparation has gone into this and we are scheduled to start these courses in January 2013. Enquiries have already started pouring in and the response has been good. Many have called up after having seen our link http://v-excel.org/progs/ignou.shtml on our website. Keep reading 'Strides' for more news on the courses that we plan to offer in the coming year.
December was a busy month with our Counseling course coming to an end. Participants presented their case-studies. This helped the course conductors gauge students' understanding and their ability to work independently under the supervision. Each case became a great learning experience for them as they learnt how to use different techniques in different cases, an essential skill required of a counselor.
Early Intervention Unit
The term 'evaluation' was the focus in the month of December 2012. All the parents were met and briefed about the individual development program, customized for their child. Their child's progress and the development areas that needed focus and attention were also highlighted in these meetings.
To ensure a consistent approach and environment while working with a child, we train parents on basic handling of children at home and suggest environmental modifications, wherever necessary. This calls for a detailed discussion between the parent and our professionals to understand where changes are necessary to increasing effectiveness of learning.
Children who can be integrated in regular schools have been identified and their parents have been advised to seek admission in regular schools.
V-Excel Satellite Centres
Nashik has been one of our first satellite centers. Our Learning Center has begun to be known to people in the field and we get referrals from schools and doctors. The program caters to nearly 35-40 children with different developmental conditions who receive therapy and special education inputs too.
Our Erode centre is three months old already! We presently have 20-25 children availing of our services. The children and their parents are slowly settling in and appreciating our work. There are many children awaiting specialized services and we shall address their needs in the months to come.
At Tirunelveli Centre, the World Disability Day was celebrated with a lot of fun and games. Various activities were organized for parents and children, making it a special day for all.
V-Excel Remedial Centre
We completed two new assessments and held meetings with their parents. We also conducted review meetings with three parents, discussing at length their children's progress. Two of these meetings were attended by the therapists too to ensure that a comprehensive review was done and goals could be set for next few months. This kind of dynamic planning helps the children get effective intervention.
We are completing our work with the child from Singapore who will be returning home next week. The child received English remedial training and play therapy. The parents attended counseling and met John for advice on diet and related matters. Parents have taken relevant contact details to try for similar help and guidance at Singapore. We have also suggested a set of home-based activities.
Children of VRC have been engaged in decorating the Christmas tree, making stars, bells etc., and generally soaking in the festive mood. The enthusiasm also reflected in participation in the megafest work assigned to the unit which focused on traditional indoor and outdoor games.
Rural Outreach Program
Awareness generation for dispelling ignorance among rural masses is an important part of our work in the disability sector. Various superstitious and religious beliefs are deep-rooted amongst the villagers and this affects their outlook and towards special children. Keeping their experience in this context in mind and recognizing that there are many people in cities too who believe in these misconceptions, we have requested special educators from the rural outreach program to conduct a street play at our upcoming January megafest in Chennai. They will be performing the play in the regional Tamil language, at least two-three times on the day.
Vocational Training Unit
We had a rather colourful and busy time in December 2012. Every student, faculty member and volunteer has pitched in the process of creating a wide range of pretty, innovative and useful products for the megafest. This year we have made some of the products that fest-goers are probably familiar with, while also making efforts to include some exclusive products as well; we would people to come to our megafest to find out what's in store!
After a hard month's work, we at the Vocational Unit celebrated Christmas with a lot of fun, frolic and festivities. A lovely little hand-puppet show about ''Happiness'' was organized for the students. A choir from a church in North Chennai was gracious enough to come to our unit to regale us with beautiful and soulful carols. After that, of course, Santa Claus visited the children, spent time with them, and showered goodies too!
Counseling and Assessment Unit
Three of our counselors attended the annual International Post-Graduate Medical Training (IPMT) program in Anthroposophy which was held in Chennai. Two of us were in the Psychotherapy group and one was in the Curative Education group. For Psychotherapy this year we had worldwide coordinators coming from Switzerland Dornach as facilitators and under their guidance we learnt how to identify the constitution of a person, and how to tailor our therapies based on this knowledge. They used plenty of case studies and role plays, making it easy for all of us to understand some of the new concepts.
This year we were able to do many new things and carry on old initiatives with more clarity and perfection. The new initiatives of art therapy and counseling course have been very successful and we look forward to taking them ahead with more enthusiasm.
One of our counselors, Anandhi Balan, has been actively involved in carrying out the Sibling Forum activities. This forum is taking shape under her guidance and hard work. An art therapy session was conducted for older siblings. The Forum provides a platform where these children can speak and deal with their feelings.
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.
33 Pine Street
East Brunswick New Jersey 08818
Tel: (732) 619-7944
Tax ID: 22-3632715 E-mail us
