Providing lifespan services to individuals with special needs...
Strides Newsletter Archives
Academy of Teaching Excellence
Contact Point
Even before the academic year officially began in June, ATE was abuzz with activity! From a workshop for an international group of teachers from the Maldives (Read full story under V-Excel News) to contact sessions for participants of the ‘Parents Awareness Training Programme’, ATE’s changing avatar of reaching out to the larger community has started to bear fruit.
The two contact sessions conducted at our satellite centres in Erode and Tirunelveli proved to us yet again the importance of keeping this course and support group alive for parents of children with special needs. “Many parents who attended the session said it was an eye-opener for them, helping them understand their child better. In fact, they expressed an interest for other such programmes in the future,” said Maria Josephine, Coordinator, ATE.
In Chennai, parents who had completed this course attended their examination on June 21. The day also witnessed a convocation ceremony for students who had successfully completed the CESE-MR course last year, as seen in the picture above. Dr. Vasudha Prakash, Founder & Director of V-Excel Educational Trust, gave away the certificates.
If you want to know more about ATE’s courses, write to maria@v-excel.org and request for the ATE course catalogue or log on to our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/freehearts) for information.
Counseling & Assessments
Over the Rainbow
For six weeks every year for the last three years, Puja Bhalla has had Australia and colour on her mind. As one of the participants of Sally Martin’s annual art therapy course, Puja has benefitted not just from the immense ocean of learning, but also from the overall experience of revelling in the world of art and beauty. Sally Martin is a renowned painting therapist and teacher, and has been involved in Anthroposophy since 1980. (Anthroposophy is a modern path of knowledge and spiritual science founded by Austrian scientist and philosopher, Dr Rudolf Steiner). Sally Martin is also the founder of The Sienna Academy for painting therapy and artistic painting in Australia.
"Colours and the working of light and darkness have an intrinsic effect on a human being. Having been attending the Art Therapy course for the last three years, I feel each time I return a transformed human being; usually taking a few months to manifest!" says Puja Bhalla.
In the first year, the module dealt with light, darkness and warmth, and the four organs of the human body. In the second year, the module focussed on the colour magenta and embryology. And in the third module, Puja worked with the colours vermillion and green. “Vermillion is a colour that transforms something, moves and brings into will. I sensed sparks flying all around me, from people and brushes…for its the quickest moving colour... but more than that, I felt in myself, the will to do things; not to put off till the last minute, not to let thoughts and ideas dwell in my head, but to put it into action! Assertive, confident and a ‘doing being’ is how I felt! It was only two days of painting with that colour, and I felt a world of change within.
“We moved to the colour green the next week and the whole class felt peaceful and easy. It was quite a relief. There was a gentle quiet...Of course, my action mode changed into a relaxed mode and everything became slower and soft… and much more comfortable for me.
I realised that we were blessed to live with the panorama of colours within and around us. All we had to do was access them, call upon them and move towards them!
“On a particularly tiring and hard day, cold but sunny, no rain in sight, someone called out…’There's a rainbow!’ And there it was, the band of seven across an angel-winged cloud, bringing with it much needed joy and hope!” says Puja quite eloquently about the course. And we, at V-Excel, are delighted that such joy and hope transcends and permeates into our everyday world through teachers attending such training programmes!
Other News from C&A
New Horizon
With the Youth Empowerment Services (YES) in Mylapore welcoming ten new graduates (Read the graduation story under KLC news) from our special school into the world of vocational training, the counselling unit too expanded its services to the centre through individual and group sessions taking place there. Art therapy will soon begin for a group of three children at the centre. Individual therapies too began for trainees at YES's production unit, Sreyes. Parent therapies are all set to begin soon as well
Regulars
- The group and individual play therapies for KLC and VRC children are on-going.
- This month witnessed many emergency counselling sessions at our corporate desks, the nature of the problems varying from relationship issues to career guidance to parenting!
- Several consultations were conducted for children from regular schools, and one assessment was done to help with board exam concessions.
Early Intervention
A New Hope
Every academic year, the EI unit introduces and immerses itself in innovative and new programmes for children with developmental delays. This time too, if the first month of the academic year is anything to go by, promises to be just as exciting!
To start with, EI welcomed a special educator and two therapists to the already dynamic team. Apart from the regular assessments and plans for children who are part of the early intervention programme, several new consultations were also conducted with some children undergoing the sensory integration programme. "The purpose of sensory integration programme, which children have to attend continuously for 21 days, is to improve focus and attention, enhance communication and establish regulation," explains Lalitha Sridhar, Coordinator of EI.
And every Saturday, group programmes are conducted for regular school children with minimal lags in development. The main goal of this programme is to improve communication and social skills, and enhance school readiness. The drawing that you see on this page is by one of the children attending the programme.
Kaleidoscope Learning Center
The Next Big Step
It was a big day for KLC as 11 of their children graduated to our Youth Empowerment Services (YES) Centre in Mylapore, our vocational and life-skills training unit! The graduation ceremony held at our Mandevali campus was deeply magical, beautiful and heart-warming, with an unmistakable touch of grace and nobility.
“It was a moment of poignancy as well as celebration that saw the students graduate to a more practical and life-skills programme at YES, but for many of them KLC has been their 'Blue Blue Sky', which has seen them grow and under which they have developed wings,” says Gita Bhalla, Principal of KLC.
The ceremony, attended by parents and the entire school, included special ‘Wonder Years’ mementos for each of the graduates, exciting goodie baskets with a mix of special gifts from teachers and students, poetry recitation, farewell messages and music. It ended with the formation of a spiral to show the interconnectedness of life through KLC and YES with teachers from both centres joining in. At the end of the spiral, each of the graduates walked towards the YES team to signify their grand entrance into the next phase of their lives.
Here are some of the messages that were shared on this special day:
Dear Graduates,
“It’s time for you to take your final journey and step towards your next path.
You came to us as little Krishnas from trusting Devakis and Vasudevs.
You played and sang and dance and made us all dance to your tunes as Krishna did in the gardens and fields of this Brindavan.
Entertained us, amused us, made us laugh, cry and even at times took us to our wits end.
But in the end, all that remained was love and more love....
Thank you for being with us! We indeed feel blessed to have you in our lives..
And as Krishnas you will live forever with us...within us...
But now, it’s time for Krishna, to physically step out of Brindavan and stride towards more places and hearts you need to conquer!
So can we all, for one more time, dance to the tunes of Krishna today...”
- Puja Bhalla, psychologist, art and play therapist, who conducted the graduation ceremony.
Dear Friends,
“Just remember world, people, places are God sent opportunities for you to change the world. Living joy and freedom, love, kisses and hugs we send you. Love you always.”
Prasaad, on behalf of all the children in KLC.
Kisses to Amruth, Hugs to Abhi and Shiva, Songs to Vijai, Hope to Tasneem and Varun, Joy to Adi, Smiles to Ankit, Free breathing to Akshay Keerthi, Good friend to Harshita.
Dear Friends and Graduates,
“Welcome to college life. Great achievers from KLC. We are proud of you. Friends believe in yourself, feel free, excited, giving and fight for your rights. Fighting is human nature. Decide your future. Have fun. Be happy. Make new friends. Stay connected with all of us.”
Love, Namu
Friends,
“We are happy to be a part of your life, to know you, to be with you, a great experience. Reach out, change the world for a better place to live in. Teach to be human. Grade 6 loves you. (Preethi) excited to go to Kaustubh next year. Be yourself. Stay connected. Get going. Bring light wherever you go.”
Love, Preethi
“We graduate for challenges. Challenges decide future. Love you all.”
Pranav
For more photographs from this memorable day, log on to our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/freehearts
Other News from KLC
Musically Yours
KLC had visitors from the Berkelee College of Music – Ellie Foster, Tatya and Toto. They had a round of discussions with Dr. Vasudha Prakash and Gita Bhalla and participated in music time with the children, engaging them in some music making of their own. They were impressed to see the varied uses of music in the curriculum and we hope to see some useful collaboration with them in the near future.
Orientation and Art
Teachers had an orientation programme on June 5 and 6, and two new teachers were welcomed – Deepa joins Grade 3 and Kanimozhi joins Grade 5. On June 10 and 11, all children participated in the 'Whole School Artwork' that has been put up as the Founder’s Day Artwork for the year 2014. Also, the school doctor visited on June 23 and 24 to review cases and meet new parents.
V-Excel Educational Trust
The fifth in our ‘A Class Apart’ series, under the Kuruvilla Jacob Initiative (http://kji.iitm.ac.in/about.html), was conducted for the first time outside Chennai. We travelled to the Lakshmi Matriculation High School in Madurai for a three-day workshop on sensitising teachers and teaching them how to recognise disabilities in their classrooms. The workshop was attended by 36 teachers, including principals and academic coordinators. Apart from lectures and interactive sessions, it included practical work such as circle time and movement and rhythm exercise where the serious and staid teachers ran, skipped, hopped, climbed, rolled around and experienced the magical world of the kindergarten and primary grades! These circle games and rhythmic exercises included the practice of some developmental milestones, which were necessary to be completed before reading and writing.
The workshop was jointly conducted by Dr. Vasudha Prakash, Founder & Director of V-Excel Educational Trust, Gita Bhalla, Principal of the Kaleidoscope Learning Centre, and Puja Bhalla, a teacher, art therapist and counsellor at V-Excel.
Going Global
A few months back, we received an email from a school in the Maldives. Mariyam Shareefa, Deputy Principal, Special Education Unit, from the Sharafuddin School in the Maldives, wrote to us inquiring about our training programmes. “We are actually a mainstream school with a strength of 1,100 students, one of the biggest schools in the Maldives,” explains Mariyam in her quiet, methodical voice. “Five years back, we were one of the four schools selected by our government to run a Special Education Unit within our premises. We began with around two to three students, but now our numbers stand at 30.” Mariyam, who took over the unit last year, felt that there was an acute lack of awareness among parents and lack of professionally trained special educators. “We have a mixed group of children – Autism, Down’s syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, children with learning difficulties – and all our teachers are primarily mainstream teachers. In fact, there are five islands connected to where we are located and we are the only special education unit for all those five. We felt it would help us help parents and children better if we trained in special education. Since our universities don’t offer any specialised training in special ed, we had to look elsewhere. And we zeroed in on V-Excel,” says Mariyam. Ask her how they found us and she says with a smile, “I did a Google search, came across your website, liked the work that you do and wrote to you.” If that isn’t providence, we don’t know what is.
Seven teachers arrived on June 3rd for our workshop and at the end of it on the 7th, they were convinced that their decision to do this, out of their own initiative, was not just brave, but extremely fortuitous too.
As part of the workshop, Mariyam’s group got the most of V-Excel’s best practices honed over the last 12 years, such as art therapy, play therapy, individualised programme planning, psycho-educational assessments, vocational and rehabilitation training, and therapeutics. For instance, they were given a live demonstration of foot massage by the teachers of KLC to show the importance of touch, and how this technique has helped children with autism and ADHD, as they seemed to be more present in their bodies after receiving a massage.
“It was a pleasure to interact with this group! It helped us to build on our goal of sensitising teachers in the classroom and harness the healing qualities of curative education, not to mention our first steps into the global community,” added Maria Josephine, Coordinator of ATE and the one who made this session happen.
At the end of the workshop, Mariyam felt all teachers in the Maldives would benefit from such a session. Their future plans include more of such training sessions and other joint programmes with V-Excel to culminate in a dedicated special education centre in their country.
Sibling Forum
The Sibling Forum – LuvMySib – was set up to provide a platform for siblings of children with special needs to share their experiences and unique perspectives that life has enriched them with. After our previous session in January where eight siblings attended, this session had a record 24 siblings attending! The group was split into two, with the older siblings grouped together with counsellor G Anandhi’s, and the younger siblings forming another group with counsellor Niharika. “We had group games, painting, drawing, group discussion and a trust walk,” says Anandhi. “A big thank you to Manivannan Vangalur for sponsoring the meet and volunteering that day too!” she adds. “It’s my pleasure to spend time with the kids and all the siblings. Thanks for the opportunity,” says Manivannan.
To know more about this forum, visit our Sibling Forum page. For details about the next session, please write to info@v-excel.org.
Occupational Therapy
Happenings at OT
Starting this year, any child who comes to V-Excel for a consultation and assessment will also be asked to attend a therapy consultation. "This works well for the unit so that we can plan ahead for therapy recommendations and gauge whether the child requires therapy or not in the early stages itself," explains Suba Naresh, Coordinator, OT. "The result of this change is that we have been flooded with assessments for not just the new admissions into KLC, but also those attending remedial at V-Excel. A great start to the year!" adds Suba.
The OT unit also welcomed therapist Vignesh Srinivasan into their team, and met with Gita Krishnaraj of Maverick Fitness Studio to discuss the fitness profiles of the children and plan appropriate future programmes for them.
V-Excel Remedial Center
Change of Heart
“When six-year-old Tara (name changed) came to us for a remedial assessment, we were told that she was rebellious, defiant and refusing to conform to any rules set by the parent,” recounts Jayanthi Srinivasan, Coordinator, VRC. “On our assessment we found that she hadn’t developed any academic skills though she had been schooled for three years. She was low on motivation, attention span, task completion and lacked boundaries. During our interaction with the mother, we could also understand that the child was mirroring her mother’s behaviour in many ways.”
So this is what the remedial programme did for Tara. It gave her the freedom to explore but gradually set boundaries with a gentle and firm hand and with a lot of love and care. “Slowly her defiant behaviour reduced and she started respecting boundaries. There was also a marked improvement in her attention span and task completion. But more importantly, we recommended that her mother receive counselling simultaneously, which she accepted,” adds Jayanthi. And difference is for all to see.
Since June of this academic year, Tara has been shifted to an inclusive school and is ready for learning. “It was especially gratifying for us when Tara’s mother wholeheartedly thanked us for all the support and guidance!”
- Two remedial assessments and reports were handed over to parents and two new assessments have begun. Goal-setting for all the children for the next three months is also underway.
- Meetings were held with three parents to discuss the assessment report and plan the future course of action.
- 13 of our old children have already started attending remedial sessions. Other parents have contacted us and we are planning their schedules.
- VRC is now functioning with two full-time and three part-time teachers.
- Meetings were held with representatives from Pudiyador about the progress of their children and the cross-service partnership continues.
Satellite Centers
Nashik
School reopened on June 9 for the children, with six new admissions joining them, making it a total of 30 children in school! Teachers have been busy planning new activities with many charts, flashcards and educational aids hand-crafted by them. Two new teachers - special educator Baghyashree and remedial teacher Sheetal Rawal - join the team. Sheetal will work with slow learners in school during the day and children with dyslexia at the centre in the evenings. Children are also being assessed to help plan their Individualised Education Programme (IEP) for the year. At the Remedial and Therapy Centre too new children have joined, and starting June 30, teachers will meet with parents to finalise the IEPs. And finally, work is ongoing to register the school with the Zilla Parishad or local government in Nashik.
Erode & Tirunelveli
The contact sessions for the 'Parents Awareness Training' programme were conducted at both Erode and Tirunelveli. To know more about the session, read under ATE news.
Solapur
The Satellite Remedial Centre in Solapur is all set to welcome the new academic year! The centre is up and running and admissions have begun. Watch this space for more!
Vocational Training / Youth Empowerment Services
The month of June was all about planning at YES for both their centres. While Kaustubh, the vocational and life-skills training centre, welcomed 11 new students from KLC and was involved in meetings and discussions for a smooth transition, the staff at Sreyes, the production unit, learnt block printing and the craft of paper mache to enhance learning for the trainees this year. Along with a new set of special educators and consultants, the IEPs for all trainees were also chalked out. The boys at YES are especially excited to have male special educators in their midst, who are combining training and therapy in their activities. And senior interns are being empowered to become teacher assistants.
The highlight of the month, however, was the special get-together organised by Green Peppers. Our interns were recently commissioned to cut vegetables for this off-premise catering company, and they were so impressed with the perfection with which our trainees worked, that they honoured each of them with individualised plaques!
With the expanded gamut of activities at YES, such as NIOS, vocational training, production and respite care, we are looking forward to an interesting and challenging academic year.