Providing lifespan services to individuals with special needs...
Strides Newsletter - July 2020 - Issue 171
Kaleidoscope Learning Centre
From Gita Bhalla's Desk
For the month of June we bring you three stories to warm your heart and give you a picture of what's happening in the COVID 19 times of KLC.
Story 1: The most beautiful heart
It was 8.30 in the evening. At one end on a low, small square table, covered with a beautiful cloth sat an I pad. A warm lamp lent its light to the otherwise darkened room. Flowers were arranged on the table in a beautiful,symmetry of colours. The teacher sat with her guitar waiting to admit the parents of her class one by one on a zoom call. They came, some wiping their hands on their pallus after a days work, some barely acknowledging the other in their tiredness and not knowing what to expect. Some came in smiling, some enthusiastic. A small prayer and a song brought a hush on the zoom meeting. Another ex-teacher from Bombay, smiled her welcome. She had taken special permission to be present on that meeting that day. She read out in her clear beautiful voice, a story. Of the most beautiful heart. A simple story. But one that gathers you from where ever you are meandering to bring you right back to the heart. The story finished. Everyone was silent. And then some spoke. They talked about their day and their strife. Some remained silent but the faces had changed. They looked peaceful. And held. Another gentle song sung just to celebrate these heroes of everyday life who have succeeded for one more day to bring some direction, calm and purpose to the lives of their children. So I understood that this session brought a few moments of unwinding, thinking beyond themselves and tuning in to some healing energies and receiving some human warmth from the community.
Later parents reported that they felt wonderful with this effort taken on their behalf and as a school we felt heartened that we could use this time of forced locked down to be able to connect to parents and connect to them as people other than people who were parents of our students. A subtle but significant difference.
Story 2: Building bridges
Pon rajam a teacher in KLC unfortunately caught the virus. Soon the whole family was indisposed and that included Preethi and Sai two children of our school. The community of teachers again rose to the occasion and Pon Rajam’s family was supported through this ordeal with warm enquiries and some of the teachers took the responsibility of sending food to the family.
Strangely indeed, at this time when social distancing is the order of the day, bridges of warmth are being built in all directions. Towards parents, colleagues, other schools, sharing of knowledge through webinars and videos have been a great source of connection.
Story 3: True functional literacy
So as teachers we have been aiming for teaching our children a few exercises as life skills. So cooking, cleaning, eating in a restaurant, doing small chores are always a part of our practical skill training. In these past two months, we have been delighted to see that children have been using their hands to make baskets, mats, cook, help around in the house. So at one point of time when our teacher for cooking, Vasanthi aunty as she is popularly known sent a written recipe to Niharika to make tomato soup. And Niharika diligently made it, with reading the recipe. The mother proudly shared the video and Niharika learnt not only to make the soup and serve it but also, revised her reading and following the written word.
In another surprising development Rekha one of our students, who has been in our school for over ten years trying to fight her fidgetiness, impulsivity and lack of attention to a task copied and painted a picture that her teacher had chosen for her. A rather detailed picture of a goddess. And Rekha sat and copied it painstakingly. A true example of what good education can do for special needs. You work not directly with their attention and impulsivity but with an art which brings with it all of the required transformation. Photographs enclosed for you to see.
We are truly hoping that this effort from her culminates into a small book for herself and she can actually use this book to make simple meals for her family. We are really thrilled with this improvement we have seen.
Till next time, we can only add that over the month of July, class wise, teacher wise, student wise timetables have been made and customised programs are being held for each child. Reviews with parents are being conducted and in the last week of July the entire parent body was met class wise with the coordinator, class teacher and other co teachers. Suggestions from parents are now being woven into programs where ever possible.
V-Excel Educational Trust
COVID-19 Emergency Relief Appeal
Lend a hand to special children* in the current crisis.
Your funds will be used to provide counseling, therapies and home education programs.
Donate Now - V-EXCEL EDUCATIONAL TRUST (INDIA)
Donate Now - ACADEMIC CONCEPTS, INC. (USA)
All donations are tax-exempt under section 80G of the Income Tax Act.
* Children with autism, ADHD, and developmental disorders.
Free Counseling Support for Health Workers
V-Excel provides free counseling support for health workers.
Counseling services are available during COVID - 19 pandemic
By appointment only!
In light of the various issues surrounding COVID-19, V-Excel's counselling services are now available via calls on WhatsApp and Skype during this lockdown period, at a minimal cost.
Please SMS or WhatsApp on the following numbers for an appointment 98847 33004 and 9500014273 (10 a.m. to 1 p.m. / 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.) (between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. / 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.)
Choose "Academic Concepts, Inc" as your favorite charity on smile.amazon.com
If you shop at Amazon.com, you may already be aware of the online retail giant's feature that allows you to help a designated charity through your purchases. It's called AmazonSmile and it affords the shopper the opportunity to donate to a charity of his or her choice at no cost.
Register with smile.amazon.com and choose "Academic Concepts, Inc" as your favorite charity. This is our registered non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization in the USA. A small percentage of all your purchases will automatically go to sponsor our cause, at no additional cost to you.
Building Bridges in Inclusive Education
We had a very interesting, one-of-its-kind initiative on 28th July 2020. We had invited over 30 Heads of various schools to join us on a Zoom interactive session for Building Bridges in Inclusive Education. It was a candid sharing platform on challenges faced by the schools during the pandemic and the measures taken for coping with these. Many Principals spoke of the struggles they went through and how things were settling in slowly. Our goal was to see how we could work together to address the stress experienced by the teachers, parents and children. The areas where V-Excel can support schools includes Counselling teachers-parents-children, Remedial Intervention for children with learning difficulties, Parenting Workshops, as well as Training and Development of teachers. We would like to thank all the educational leaders who took time to be a part of this meeting.
V-Excel Webinar Series
To help professionals, teachers and parents tide over the current COVID-19 crisis, V-Excel has initiated a series of webinars. One of the of these was called "Teaching Social Skills and Emotional Regulations in ASD".
Professionals from within V-Excel have agreed to offer several such webinars on a variety of topics. Please visit our webinar page on the website for more details.
Facebook e-Tarang
Live e-Tarang concerts was streamed on Friday, 03rd July between 7.00 p.m. - 7.50 p.m. and featured a vocal concert by Vedanth Bharadwaj.
We followed this up on Tuesday, 07th July with a concert by M.V.S. Nisha where the theme was 'Krishnaa... Vithalaa... Gopaalaa...'
We followed this up on Friday, 10th July with a concert by Suchithra Balasubramanian where the theme was 'Azhagu'
We followed this up on Tuesday, 14th July with a concert by Shrirang Krishnan where the theme was 'Bollywood/Sufi'
We followed this up on Friday, 17th July with a concert by Ranjani Sivakumar
We followed this up on Tuesday, 21st July with a concert by Mohena Bahl - Singer where the theme was 'Recap Bollywood - From Retro to recent hits'
We followed this up on Friday, 24th July with a concert by Aravind Srinivas - Singer.
We followed this up on Friday, 31st July with a concert by Bhavya Hari.
Please visit our facebook page /freehearts for concert updates.
Music-for-a-cause
"As one person, I cannot change the world, but I can change the world of one person". Music-for-a-cause has been a big agent all my adult life. I have therefore chosen these extraordinary times, to engage the music inside me with one cause that has always been close to my heart - service towards individuals, especially children, with special needs. Please lend me a helping hand, please spread this message, please donate as much as you can, as much as you want. In thanks, I promise to sing my heart out!
Satellite Centers
From Solapur
From 1st June we made whatsapp groups of one teacher and 8 children each.Started to give daily activities to parents through videos and photos and guiding supporting them daily through phone calls. Teachers took a follow up for every activity. Parents are very happy and they are cooperating with us very well.
On Sunday 7th June Organised one session for parents by Dr.Sunil Godbole (Developmental Pedestrian Pune) and Dr. Ashwini Godbole (Dietician and Counselor) through zoom meet. Topic was Managing Children during Lockdown - Tips and Tricks.
25 parents and all teachers participated in this session. It boosted and prepared parents for online sessions.
Started teletherapy sessions through video calls. Therapist plans OT, SI and Brain Gym activities as per need of child. Explains plan to parents, shows demo session and then observes videos and gives feedback. Parents follow it very sincerely.
We arranged individual consultation sessions for 15 children by Dr. Godbole for their medical problems. He also did counselling to parents. It was very helpful to parents because they couldn't go to Pune during this lockdown situation for their children's medical follow up.
Activities done by children at home during lockdown under teacher's guidance are in collage
Vocational Training Unit
From Usha Rajagopal's Desk
The month continued with the Global Pandemic scare and Lockdown which kept extending but with some relaxations. There was an intense lockdown for 15 days from May which extended till July 1st week. We had a new set up of online classes with more interactive base using Zoom for both verbal and non verbal trainees. Also shifting of our unit from first floor to ground floor which will bring all activities in separate rooms helping to maintain social distancing.
Usha conducted meeting with all teachers and staff to discuss and plan for the next level of online classes for the trainees.An article about mask was published in Mylapore times.
Charu and Usha attended unit heads meeting addressed by our Trustee Mr. Rajagopal.
Usha and Charu conducted teachers meeting to discuss and plan for the next level of online classes.
Lockdown in Chennai was lifted. Usha, Charu and Manivannan started working from the center. Charu coordinated with all parents and Usha and Charu discussed about the 2nd space of online classes using Zoom. A trial class for two days was organized and the same was conveyed to the parents. The Zoom id was shared to the parents and requested them to prepare a professional setup area for their wards.
Two days trial online class on Zoom for all our trainees was started. We had overwhelming response from the trainees and with parents support. The sessions started with first greeting each other and with prayer, followed with yoga, social interaction, culinary, music and functional academics. It was very surprising to see non verbal trainees who were happy in interacting with gestures and smile.
Charu and Usha attended Webinar Teaching Social Skills and Emotional Regulation in ASD by Mr. Milind Sonawane.
After the successful completion of two days introductory class connecting all trainees through Zoom, this week started with a full participation of the trainees.
A schedule was shared to all the parents along with the list of items required and the Zoom id. The online class was scheduled from 8.45 am to 12.45 pm consisting of 6 sessions per day. The sessions scheduled were starting with prayer, yoga, social interaction, culinary – preparing snack, functional academics, music, movement and with an activities carpentry and arts and crafts. For the activities the trainees were grouped into two and a separate zoom meeting room was created for which the id and the password was shared to the parents of the group as per the category.
It was a wonderful day to see Pranav, Rishi, Sai participating and the siblings and parents helping them to set the meeting and the adjusting the camera.
Parents were allowed only during the snack preparation time and on need based.
Shanthi, Abhirami, Bhagawathy was made the leaders for each activity and Rishi being the main mentor who will coordinate and guide the teachers.
Margaret our art and craft volunteer visited our center and taught the stitching of mobile pouch to our teacher Abhirami.
Usha and Charu attended the Unit’s head meeting. Puja sessions on plant study was discussed and Radhika’s relaxation sessions was very useful and relaxing.
ESVI Sarada Foundation celebrated Founder’s Day on July 22, 2020 at the center. Mr. Rajagopal and Usha Rajagopal had a speech about the Founder Late Mr. S. Viswanathan and about his life and journey. Ms. Saraswathy Sarathy one of family member was present via Zoom and also the VTU teachers. In person Charu, Mani and ESVI Sarada Foundation staff attended the meet.
Usha and Charu attended unit heads meeting on Thursday. Puja had session with all on plant study.
Aruna of SNEH, Product Hub requested to send stock of products to be marketed and sold. Mani delivered 10 of each products of Jute bowls, quelling coasters and bags to the hub.
Online classes went on very well with enthusiasm and fun from Mondays to Saturdays 8.45 am to 12.45 a.m. Radha our senior consultant volunteered to conduct functional academics focusing more on interactive sessions for non verbal trainees.
Usha and Charu attended Unit heads meeting via Zoom. Parimal addressed and had group sessions for all the unit heads on how to handle this crisis situation and some meditation techniques.
Consultation by VTU team and Lakshmi Sudhakar with Divya’s parents was done. As they stay in Trichy, we need to have online sessions for her. VTU team to plan and discuss a schedule for Divya. Fees structure and time table was discussed with the parents.
During the zoom online classes every day there was art and craft activity and carpentry. The teacher gave demo and the trainees followed the instructions for both snacks and craft activities. For some trainees parents helped them in the process. It was amazing to see some of the craft done by the trainees. The trainees enjoyed and relished their own snacks made by them. It was heartening to see the enthusiasm and the support from the parents and siblings.
Youth Empowerment Services
From Rama Nagarajan's Desk
July 2020 was another month under the Covid lockdown situation which was made useful, productive, engaging and meaningful for our trainees in spite of many challenges. More online sessions were added and equal importance was given to learning and relaxation. The whole team of YES came together in the implementation process.
Key highlights of the month July 2020
• Resumption of Laundry services at YES.
• Introduction of core Vocational skills along with Social, Life and communication skills training through our regular online sessions.
• Introduction of online sessions on computer skills training.
• Continuation of online sessions on therapy and vocational academics.
• Separate group counselling sessions for parents and trainees.
• Implementation of CAPS template for one trainee in each vocation as a trial.
• In house training for the trainers on time management, online session topics and teaching methodologies.
Resumption of Laundry services at YES
Our laundry services at YES resumed on 08 July 2020. On 06 July 2020, the centre was cleaned up, sanitised and got ready for our staff to go. Though we could not invite any trainees to the centre, due to prevailing situation, 3 of our staff members took the responsibility of the laundry service just to make sure the services to our customers go uninterrupted.
Introduction of core Vocational skills along with Social, Life and communication skills training through our regular online sessions.
We are very happy to share that our regular online sessions are going consistently and we have been able to progress from general skill development to core vocational training. All the initial ground work and preparations have paved way for a very effective learning through online sessions. Trainees participation and involvement have surely improved and the parents support has been steadily increasing. These have led to many interesting and useful topics taken a slot in the schedule.
We also had group Bhajan session on 09 July 2020. The session was titled ‘Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavanthu’. Trainees sang their favourite devotional bhajan songs and the session ended with a group prayer for health and peace for all.
|
Date |
Topics |
Summary of the session |
|
01-Jul-20 |
Art |
Creative skills, drawing skills, Fine motor skills - This session is about imaginative drawing of simple things. This is to basically enhance their creativity, imaginary and visualising skills, fine motor skills and therapeutically.
|
|
03-Jul-20 |
Kitchen activity |
Life skills, Healthy habits - Session focussed on healthy eating habit. Trainees were introduced to different types of greens, their health benefits and how to clean and use them. They were also shown how to cut different vegetables for different purposes. |
|
06-Jul-20 |
Introduction to Office equipment - I |
Vocational basics, Life skills - Presentation was done on Introduction to office equipment and office supplies. Examples were given for each and they were asked make a list of the same as a home assignment |
|
08-Jul-20 |
Social skills |
Social Skills- Topics covered: How to greet people, Eye contact, posture, clear communication, magic words, personal space, social etiquette and the importance of following these. |
|
10-Jul-20 |
Introduction to Office equipment - II |
Vocational basics - Follow up session on the earlier session on office equipment. Presentation covered 4 easy methods to keep the papers organised like stapler, jump clip, thread and punching and filing. Also types of binding. |
|
13-Jul-20 |
Vocational basics - Kitchen |
Vocational skills basics - Topics covered - Safety and hygiene measures to be followed in the kitchen and during kitchen activities |
|
15-Jul-20 |
Getting ready - I |
Life skills, Vocational basics - This session covered the importance of getting ready for any task before starting with it. It also emphasized on the importance of sequencing and logical approach to any task/activity. Presentation was shared and real-life examples were given for better understanding. Was an interactive session. |
|
17-Jul-20 |
Interactive session |
Social skills - Through story telling values like compassion, kindness and being considerate were conveyed. Emphasis was also on importance of practice, perseverance, staying calm and positive handling of anxiety |
|
20-Jul-20 |
Getting ready - II |
Life skills, Vocational basics - This was a follow up to the earlier session Getting Ready. This part completely focussed on getting ready for different activities in different vocations. This was an interactive session where the trainees volunteered and answered. |
|
22-Jul-20 |
Vocational basics - P&D |
Vocational skills - This session covered all the basics of Printing and Documentation unit. It included all the machines and the safety measures to be followed before and during the operation of the machine. |
|
24-Jul-20 |
Craft activity with Atta |
Creative skills, Fine motor skills - This session was intended to improve the fine motor skills and their creativity. This session also focussed on understanding proportion and mixing. Trainees made the playdough using either atta/maida and made different things using the same. |
|
27-Jul-20 |
Communication |
Creative skills, Communication skills, Social skills - Session had a presentation with many story pictures charts and the trainees were asked to make stories with the pictures shown in the chart. They were encouraged to make their own stories and narrate it to others. |
|
29-Jul-20 |
Life skills |
Life skills, Vocational skills -This session focussed on different types of buttons and the method of buttoning and unbuttoning them. Trainees were also taught how to buckle a belt or watch. |
|
31-Jul-20 |
Note book making |
Vocational skills - This session covered notebook making in 3 different ways. This was shown as a ppt and also as a demonstration. The trainer demonstrated all the 3 types in a very detailed manner. |
Introduction of online sessions on computer skills training
We started our online sessions on Computer Skills from July 2, 2020. Trainees were divided into 4 groups with each group having 2 sessions a week. Each group has a maximum of 5 trainees and this enables us to give focussed attention to each of them.
The first two sessions were on the basics of personal computers - i.e., parts of the computer and their uses, switching on and shutting down the computer system, and opening and closing an application. After this, they were introduced to typing skills for which we again split the trainees into 2 levels - beginners and advanced levels. As we started with alphabets and words for beginners, we covered sentences, paragraphs and formatting for the advanced level. For advanced level trainees, we also covered filling up forms and letter typing.
As a common topic, we started off the 'Typing with 10 fingers' concept for all trainees to make them more efficient in typing with speed and accuracy.
Continuation of online sessions on therapy and Vocational academics
OT/PT session
OT/PT sessions for this month focussed on Brain gym exercises, Spinal exercises, upper and lower limb exercises and exercises for spatial awareness and exercises to improve their fine motor skills. The therapist demonstrates the exercise and all the trainees follows his instructions. For a few trainees parental support is taken wherever needed. All the exercises that are demonstrated are documented and the same is shared with all the parents for their reference.
Vocational academics
Vocational academics sessions which started during the middle of June are continued. The topics Length, Measurement and Capacity spilled over to the month of July also. The next topic introduced was money concept. Each session is beautifully structured and planned in detail. Every session has a presentation to explain the concept and a Question and Answer time for the recap and assessment. The sessions are progressing well and trainees are able to incorporate the concepts in their daily life.
Separate group counselling sessions for parents and trainees
In the month July 2020 we had 4 group counselling sessions. 2 for parents and 2 for trainees. Each group had about 11 or 12 participants. Sessions for parents focussed on their self-development and self-care. It was a great opportunity for all the parents to vent out their feelings and challenges faced during this difficult time. For the trainees the focus was more on how to handle anxiety and how to stay calm. Trainees session also had some time for some fun activities.
Implementation of CAPS template for one trainee in each vocation as a trial.
With the definite and well-planned schedule in hand, July month was the right time to start implementing the CAPS template for YES trainees. So, to get a hold of things we had a couple of sessions for a recap and better understanding. All the trainers were asked to make CAPS for one trainee for just one day as a trial and later it was extended to all 5 days of the week for that particular trainee. Each sample was discussed in detail for corrections and fine tuning.
In house training for the trainers on time management, online session topics and teaching methodologies.
Along with the training and implementation of CAPS, trainers were also given in house training on time management, conducting effective online sessions, teaching methodologies, preparation for the online sessions, assessing the progress and reporting. All the trainers involved in the reporting work participated in these sessions and contributed well also.
As we get into the month of August and as we look back at July, we see a considerable work done and that the progress is very explicitly seen in the outcome. Despite the challenges and uncertainties around us this hope and positivity keeps us going towards the targeted goal of uninterrupted training, support and service to our trainees.