Writing Readiness Programme
Getting a child ready to write is an important aspect of pre-school programme. The key components of writing are a follows:-

When colouring give short pieces of crayons to promote proper grasp
Encourage scribbling first, imitation of vertical strokes, then horizontal strokes, then circular motions and finally copying circle
Use tracing on sand, foam, powder.
Children should not be facilitated to write alphabets and numbers directly. Writing should be made an enjoyable, stress free experience and this could be achieved through readiness programme.

March madness was at its highest with the Annual Day just round the corner. Props, sets, costumes, hand work , practices, lists, music, movement gave the school an air of activity which every now and then burst into a frenzy. Teacher's poring over their scissors and paints, students lying down quietly for a short break after lunch because the whole morning had been spent in jumping from Pride Rock and dancing with the hyenas!

We look forward to all our parent's and friends joining us on the 9 of April at Narada Gana Sabha, TTK Road to witness the culmination of this whole creative journey of a month and more.

It's also the year end and if the mornings are spent in practice, the evenings are filled with report writing as the children receive their annual reports early next month.

On Tuesday, 28th, Blue Blue Sky Choir set out to Siruseri Hexaware Office for 2 performances - at 1 pm and 3pm. The program was received well and it was an entire day long program for the students and teachers who accompanied them . Hexaware is our CSR partner and we were glad to showcase the talent of our students through this event.

Wednesday 1st March, parents of a few (8) students were met by the counselling department, Sushama and Parimal, who advised them and explained the behaviour and anger issues of adolescent students. Managing and understanding growing children is a deeply introspective and arduous task but sometimes proves to be very healing too.

Four teachers from The Heritage School, Delhi, visited Sharada and went around KLC on the 1st and 2nd of March. They met with Neha and Shashi, the school coordinators and watched some sessions and visited our other centres. Discussions of of how we work with the children, about the curative curriculum, vocational activities were held . They came back on 2nd afternoon and watched Puja do a main lesson . This was followed by a detailed orientation, discussion and sharing of views for over two hours with Gita and Neha. The team was very grateful and commented on the students willingness to participate in the program and the general demeanour of good cheer and the high quality of expression of our students with autism. They said it was an eye opener for them.

From the second week of March batches of students and teachers re started nature walks early in the morning at 6.30 am to Guindy National Park under the supervision of the Ranger and expert Mr. Poochi Venkat. We are indeed grateful for his presence and guidance , and to the parents who accompany and make this an enriching part of the program.

Grade 7 who have been studying the Renaissance, took a field trip to Chola mandal Artists Village on ECR road and met with a sculptor Mr. Nandan. They spent a few hours with him and he showed them how he used clay to mould it into a man in different postures. The students of grade 7 were greatly enriched by this experience.

Holi was celebrated with natural colours, as a welcome relief. Water day remains one of the schools favourite events and this year as the summer has the temperatures already soaring in March, the children had a wonderful time splashing around with each other.

A Shining Star

Mohammed Ibrahim is a trainee at our Vocational Training Unit in Adyar. He also works at the Copper Chimney Restaurant at Cathedral Road. His mother Mrs. Ayesha Shakir shares this story with us:

"Ibrahim came home from Copper Chimney with a postcard that was sent to him from Switzerland. We are all so proud of him and wanted to share this happiness with you. We would like to thank you and everyone else at V-Excel for training him in a way that he is able to confidently express himself and impress people with his work. Please continue being the guiding light in his life so he may continue to flourish to heights such. May God bless all of you. Thank you for everything!"

We are extremely grateful to Mr. M. Mahadevan, owner of the Copper Chimney restaurants for having given Ibrahim this opportunity!

Chennai Beautification

The Studio of Architectural Urbanism is an initiative seeking development, innovation and betterment of cities. As a start-up firm, they are actively involved in supporting the effort taken by the Indian Railways in creating awareness about a clean country. On Saturday, March 4th, they undertook painting the walls of the Mundakanni Amman Kovil MRTS station (Chennai) as a part of their campaign and invited our students to participate.

As they mentioned in their invitation, "This would promote inclusiveness in social practices followed in our city based projects. We would also like to extend our hands to support inclusive approach to more such social projects."

MoU with TechMahindra Foundation

In our ongoing quest to foster strategic CSR partnerships, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding today with Tech Mahindra Foundation to "provide education and skill-based training to teachers to enable them to effectively educate children with disabilities in different service programs". The MoU was signed at the Tech Mahindra premises in Sholinganallur, Chennai.

Activities of Daility Living (ADLs) are much needed for all children with special needs. These activities foster independence, improve self-esteem and evenutally lead to independent livelihoods. ADLs are the tasks and routines that are performed on a daily basis in order to take care of one's self and live independently. When thinking about aging-in-place, it is important to consider a person's ability to manage his ADLs.

In March, the children of Grade 7 of KLC attended ADL Training every Friday. Six trainees from Grade 7 attended ADL sessions that covered activities such as the identification and care of body parts, brushing teeth, grooming, using a trimmer and dressing with proper privacy. Children have progressed in ADL training. Once this training has been completed, parents will be instructed to follow the same at home.

"Cut, Copy, Paste….. My sessions last week in VRC were extremely exciting. I handle 3 children throughout the week, and last week was my first group session. My children came to attend my sessions despite their boring annual exams and the scorching sun. And so I decided to treat them. I gave them an activity where I drew a scene and made them cut and paste coloured paper on it. I used wet-on-wet sheets made by them to make them feel more connected to the task. They were so excited and my session with them crossed an hour! The outcome may not look very artistic, but the fact that I made a hyperactive child sit through this for almost an hour makes me feel proud and encouraged!" By Abhinaya – Teacher at VRC

The progress of children at Velachery Coperation School continues well. Dinesh is able to string beads comfortably and able to recite the alphabet and identify a few numbers. He is always willing to come for his sessions. Meghanathan is able to relate different body parts and their functions, and identify some basic shapes. Santhosh is able to recite a few letter sounds and count numbers till 30!

At Olcott Memorial school, meetings with parent were very emotional and at the same time made us feel proud. The father of a child who comes to the remedial class said, "It is for you teachers that my son is wanting to come to school and is eager every day in the morning. You have brought life into my child."

At Malathi Hr. Secondary School, a child who was obsessed with spending time in temples away from home, is now willing to be at home with his parents.

For the first time this year, a group meeting of the parents of YES students was held on 2nd March 2017 at the Vocational training unit. Most of the parents attended the meeting and came up with their suggestions and concerns. All parents expressed their approval for the different activities being carried out in the Center like Yoga and the shopping trips on alternate days.

A day-long picnic for all the staff of V-Excel was organized on 4th March to Kesharbaug, near Nashik. Kesharbaug is an adventure park and restaurant nestled among the mangroves of Keshar variety. Many of the staff showed keen interest in taking part in different types of adventure sports like rock-climbing, commando bridge crossing, rapelling, etc.

A staff-meeting was organized on 11th March 2016. Various events like Holi celebration and Autism awareness day were planned and the various tasks were delegated to different staff members. The teachers also listened to a lecture on Pranic-healing by a healer Mrs. Uma Suri.

Aadhar card enrolment has become a mandatory exercise for all the citizens of the country. In order to facilitate the school children to obtain their Aadhar numbers, an Online Registration camp was held in our school. Many parents came with their children and availed the service.

Holi was celebrated in school on 16th March. Dry organic colours were used by the staff and the children to celebrate Holi. The children put colours.

From Gopal Jahagirdar in Solapur
1. Sri Dilip Kulkarni, Sri Murali and Smt. Jayanthi Vishwanath visited the Solapur center on 9th March. Discussions were held on online progress reports.
2. They also met Mr. & Mrs. Gavande about our new Building
3. Sri Dilip met Sri Suhas(Architect) and discussed the building plan
4. Four students from the main school were shifted to the vocational section.
5. Hardic, a 4-year old new autistic boy joined our center for therapy and remedials

This month of March was very different in all aspects for the Vocational Unit at Sreyes. It was a combination of processing product orders and working towards the Annual Day. The first two weeks involved continuous planning and coordination with teachers and volunteers towards the "Lion King" project. On one weekend, we screened the movie for them so that they may be able to relate to it well. When we talk about props now, we mention the sequence and describe to them about what we are making. Thanks to Prabu who gave us the copy and made it possible. Everyone is excited to be a part of it. In the week of March 11-18, they made props in the morning and worked towards the quilled coaster order in the afternoons. The completed order was delivered over that weekend.

Every afternoon, Kaushik, Vaidhy, Ibrahim and Sriram work with teacher Satya for an hour to make sanitary.

Four trainees of the Poompuhar programme are with us as interns. They help in the props making. They are energetic and good with their hands and also work with our trainees with a teacher to guide them.

Radha and Uma are there as usual helping us in all activities. Since Shobha, our volunteer, who did the IPP entries is not coming any more, Radha is helping us update the info. Yogeshwari has been coming at least 3 days in a week to help with the quilling.

The last week and half, they all actually moved out of their regular work area and all of Sreyes became their work area in the making of the props. Manivannan has been very supportive all through by ensuring that materials are available at the asking. Thanks to Sashi for coordinating it well. We had a carpenter come in to help with some small add ons to the props. The production team came over to Sreyes to see the making as well as the finishe sprops. They were very appreciative of all the effforts going into it.

Shahbaz, a new trainee, who was with YES last month, was supposed to begin his observation period at Sreyes from the 3rd. On request to Rama, it has been postponed to the week after Annual Day, since observation and accommodation of a new trainee while everyone is busy with props making will be a challenge.

Interviewed two male special educators who have worked with young adults in the area of vocations. On the second Saturday , this month, the Cafe Samarth suddenly sprung to life as a group of 16 friends of Ms. Charu made it their venue to celebrate a birthday.

That's it from us this month. Do follow us to keep track of our young achievers.

From Youth Empowerment Services:
On 3rd March, our trainees visited a photo exhibition of Ms. Pooja Chordia about African wildlife. There was also a video film of wild animals in Africa which helped many trainees identify the animals.

On 4th March a parent-teacher's meeting of the AIMS multimedia group was conducted. The importance of monthly plans and homework follow-up were stressed upon. On the same day, our trainees participated in the wall painting event at Mundakanniamman MRTS railway station.

On 21st March, Mrs. Rama Nagarajan and Mr. S. Prakash visited the Valeo India Auto Parts manufacturing unit to explore job opportunities for our trainees. Role maps were done for five selected trainees and suitable jobs in reception and in documentation have been shortlisted. We have been asked to train these trainees in the basic skills required for these jobs.

On 29th March, the Rotary Club of Madras East, used stoles woven by our trainees to honor the Chief Guest of a function. Our trainees Navya and Kerthika attended and their work was greatly appreciated by all Rotarians.