Providing lifespan services to individuals with special needs...
Strides Newsletter - October 2020 - Issue 174
Kaleidoscope Learning Centre
From Gita Bhalla's Desk
Festival time:
October, the month of celebrations, Navratri and Golu , the festival of the dolls, arrived like every year. But this year, there was a difference. There was no hustle bustle in the corridors, the practice of song and dance, the preparation of Sundal and the elaborate procession of the dolls was stalled. Our super teacher Usha Suresh had a super idea and she collected all the hand work creations of the children during the past few months and exhibited them in her golu along with her own original themes. This virtual golu was visited by many KLC students and other V -Excel staff. It was a labour of love brought alive by a thoughtful teacher and we really would like to thank and celebrate her innovative hard work! Please do go through the video that captured this.
Extending boundaries:
And the continued unnatural situation across the city continues to bring out different impulses from different people. On one such impulse Usha again invited one of her students Adi to live with her for a day. A break for him, his parents and Usha’s generous spirit was rewarded with sheer happiness which touched Adi deeply. It was a very successful endeavour.
Parent meetings:
Parent meetings were held in three lots for three different days. 12th for Junior, 13th for middle and 15th for senior school parents, who met Vasudha, Ajita and Lakshmi in a short review and shared their homestay tales between them. Parents felt held and were very happy that the school management was interested in their locked down woes.
Resuming services:
While some of our students have returned to Sharada building for a dedicated therapy, educational, remedial work some have returned for skating and all reports have been good so far. The farm program got a new impetuous and three students from KLC have begun their farm trips again. Akshay Nathan celebrated his birthday at the farm and a special mention of Rishi and Usha for making his day so memorable. Priya one of our teachers has been working with a few students who come to school for therapy and have done some great hand work with her. This is being done to support families who needed therapy or some time away from home and children who had begun to come to school. Prasaad, our student from senior school has been going to Sreyes and is being guided to spend two hours a day three days a week. It’s been a good transition so far.
Teacher meetings:
Teachers in KLC have met once a week to do a common reading. The book they are reading together is "Children With A Difference" by Walter Holtzappel. The teachers have also been guided through some artwork and introspection and sharing through Neha Bharadwaj the academic coordinator. It was a coming together in a warm way where each person got to express what they were feeling in these times. It’s been an endeavour from both Shashi and Neha to be truly in touch with each teacher, helping, guiding, listening and holding them through the ups and downs of these unpredictable times. The same effort is being extended for the parents of KLC and every possible support is being reached out to the parents in need.
Adithya's stay with Usha Suresh
Farm program and Akshay's birthday
Skating
Priya's work with Students
Teacher's meeting and introspection
Prasaad to Sreyes
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.
Free Online Screening Camp
Free online screening camp, tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for children with development disabilities aged 7 or under. For appointments, call 044-24956373/9884491986.
First Aid Session
On 11 September 2020, our well-wisher and hospitality consultant Mr. Arun Kumar conducted a session on First Aid. He started off by explaining the need to rise to the situation during any emergency. Using daily life Mr. Arun stressed the importance and timeliness of first aid.
With colorful and elaborative PowerPoint slides Mr. Arun explained different situations in which providing first aid to a victim would make the treatment process less complicated. He also spoke about the importance of self-care during emergency situations before getting into giving first aid, and the simple dos and don'ts for the same.
The whole session was a very useful one in more than one way. During the session we also spoke about compassion, kindness, being empathetic and helpful. All the trainees could easily relate to the topic and shared many of their views and experiences. This session was not only attended by the trainees but even by many of our parents as it is an important thing to know and learn.
Navaratri Special Golu
This beautiful golu is created from scratch by our own Mrs. Usha Suresh, a staff member of Kaleidoscope Learning Centre (KLC), our school for children with special needs.
What is so special about this golu?
Firstly, each doll is hand-made with everyday products such as coconut shells, cloth, sand, cardboard, seashells, pistachio shells, wool, stones and pebbles, pieces of wood, twigs, leaves, paper and lots and lots of colours. Some of these have been made by the children of our school at their respective homes.
Secondly, each of these dolls satisfies the sensory needs of our special needs children. Scraping of the coconut shell to make it smooth, working with cloth to make mats, rolling wool to make a bird and a spider, playing with the texture of sand, - all these small activities that integrate their sensory needs. As we say in KLC, ‘I feel happy when I keep my hands busy’ and what better way to keep our hands busy than by making these lovely dolls.
Thirdly, the whole process of making these dolls from scratch is therapeutic. Imagine starting from nothing to creating an astoundingly beautiful product! Now imagine children with special needs creating the same - the transformation alone does wonders for their self-confidence and helps them develop appreciation for everyday things and to use them creatively.
What better occasion to present these than that of Navaratri - a dedication that comes from the soul, a celebration of life and gratitude to the Almighty for always shining light on His creation.
Happy Navaratri….
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 "Building worlds through Music and Movement".
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/YouTube e-Tarang
Live e-Tarang concerts was streamed on Friday, 2nd October between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m with a concert by Playback Singer - Srivardhanini, where the theme was 'P. Susheela Hits'.
We followed this up on Friday, 9th October with a concert by Playback Singer & Lyrics Writer - Surmukhi Raman, where the theme was 'S. Janaki Hits'.
We followed this up on Friday, 16th October with a concert by Radhika K. on vocals accompanied by Subhashree Sankar on Violin and Sriram Srinivasan on Mridangam where the theme was 'Devi Kirthis'
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!
Vocational Training Unit
From Usha Rajagopal's Desk
The month begin with more trainees joining, initiation of Vivikta’s Natural and SNEH project and ended with Vijayadasmi Puja.
Dr. Vasudha Prakash met parents at VTU and expressed their feedback about their wards activities during and post lockdown.
Trainees and parents enjoyed watching Tarang from their respective houses and the artiste this month was Ms. Srivardhini.
All VTU staff attended the meeting conducted by Vasudha . This was a casual meeting organised to meet all the staff and teachers of V-Excel after her return from USA.
A new project with SNEH – PRODUCT HUB, was initiated where they provided us with raw materials and we create or execute their job order. A MoU was signed with mutual agreement on the quantity and duration which will be focused more on training. It is wonderful platform to have continuous training on art and craft, block printing and jute products without worrying about raw materials sourcing and marketing. Based on all our vocational activities, we have given our request of job order for block printing and art and craft. We will have both training and production happening at the same without hindering the flow of other vocations. They started with job order of painting diyas and block printing on the running material. They will convert that into a product and market for the same. Trainees were fully engaged with ease and were able to execute the order on time.
Sanitary pad unit resumed the production with trainer Bhagawathy and trainees Sriram, Sarvana Prabu and Gazali. They have continuous activity for full day and are working to a given target of exhausting raw materials into finished products. We will be supplying the same with help of donors to GOONJ an organization who are in need of the pads for free distribution to rural areas.
Due to parent’s keen interest to resume Sreyes Farm trips, the group reassembled and started the weekly overnight trips.
Shashi and Neha had conference call meeting to discuss about their student Prasad to come for sometime to learn some activities at VTU unit. He comes for 2 hours, 3 days a week.
Trainees daily activities of yoga, reading, functional academics, tailoring, block printing, art and craft, sanitary pads, groundnut deseeding and games went as per the time table. Parallely online classes went as schedule to Divya, Trichy and Mahesh.
Planning for golu was discussed.
Usha and Charu met parents to get the feedback about their wards who started attending the center.
Margaret came and assigned Abhirami to complete designing of candle holders activity with the trainees. Trainee Sailakshmi, Rishi and Vishal were happy to paint and paste the candles.
Two trainees Aditya Mohan (first time) and Rishi left for the farm along with Usha, Rishi Teacher.
Finished products Diya painting and of SNEH delivered. Trainees packed the independently.
During Navarathri, trainees cleaned and organised the dolls in order to set it on the golu shelf. Trainees were busy with morning sessions of yoga, reading, functional academics and decorating the area for golu. They also set the golu dolls and decorated the the steps.
Vivikta team came with the trail products for packaging and gave demo to the teachers. It seems a good vocation with Assembly line method. Also will be very a routine and repetitive work. It will be very useful for our trainees and can lead to placement in any kind of unit like them.
Prasad, student from KLC started on trial basis at VTU. It took some time for him to enter but once teacher Rishi sang a song, he came inside and took a tour first. Then he sat with other trainees in the art and craft unit and started jute bowl stitching with the help of the trainer. He will be coming here for 3 days in a week.
Charu and Usha attended a webinar conducted by Jinkisha Center on life skill for young adults with special needs.
Usha and Charu attended the demo of Digital Learning Platform conducted by Sol’s Arc.
Based on Gita ma’am’s instruction, the patchwork for the Quilt International Exhibition, tailoring unit along with trainees started working on the same.
Vivikta products packing was done by the trainee Chandra, Rahul, Vishal along with teacher Shanthi.
Usual morning session went on as scheduled and post lunch all the units were cleaned by the respective trainees and teachers to prepare for the Vijayadasmi puja to be held on Monday. Trainees along with teachers instruction, cleaned, decorated and got all the items ready for the Vijayadasmi Puja.
Vijayadasmi Puja was performed and all the trainees were present and enjoyed watching both in person and Zoom. Parents whoever came to pick the ward were invited to see the golu and thambulam bags.
Usha and Charu had meeting with Anand, Ajita and Lakshmi to discuss about the way forward of the sanitary project.
Vivikta Ramya got the 2nd set of packing items of their products.
Youth Empowerment Services
From Rama Nagarajan's Desk
October 2020 brought along a lot of hope for us as many constructive planning happened and more trainees also started coming to the centre. We also had a bit of regrouping done to strike a balance between online training and the training at the centre. As a parallel process we also gradually started planning our production in various units and streamlining our Printing and Documentation unit.
Key highlights of the month October 2020
• Constructive assessments were done for the trainees on the skill development sessions.
• Based on the assessments regrouping was done and we started to have 2 different batches for skill development.
• More trainees started coming in to the centre.
• Training and assessment through online sessions on computer skills.
• Continuation of online sessions on therapy and vocational academics.
• Individual counselling for the staff.
• Continuation of one on one session for a couple of trainees who are not able to attend regular online sessions.
• Celebrations – Sloka chanting, Vijayadasami day.
• Production – Kocoatrait, SNEH.
• Participation in the demo session by Sol’s arc on their digital learning platform, Pathways.
• Parents meeting.
Online sessions on vocational skills, social skills, communication skills and life skills.
Assessments
Online session in the month of October had a completely different format. We started the month with a couple of sessions on picture story and music. The next full week was dedicated to assessments and review. Assessments were planned and executed in such a way that the trainees had time to prepare and perform the tasks. Each trainee was given 4 tasks in different area and they had a couple of days to get ready with the materials. They were asked to complete two tasks in a day and every trainee was given time to show their completed task. They were all assessed based on various factors and criteria. These assessments which was planned for 2 days spilled over and got over in 4 sessions.
Review and Regrouping
We had a review session post the assessments. During the review each trainee was discussed with and the observations were shared. Based on the assessments, observations and review trainees were grouped into 2 different groups. Hence from mid of the month, the timings for the skill development session was increased from one and half hours to 2 hours, that is one hour for each group. The Group A and Group B had training and skill building on areas where they need more attention.
The sessions for Group A were on Art, drawing, colours and shapes where as for Group B they were on reading, writing and comprehension. The primary focus for Group A was on fine motor skills, expressions and therapeutic and for Group B it was on language skills, communication and application.
More trainees started coming in to the centre.
Though the previous month very few trainees came into the centre, in the month of October, a few more trainees started attending the centre. A clear cut program was drawn for each trainee and it was meticulously followed. The SOP for safety measures were explained to the parents also so as to maintain a complete safe and secure environment for all.
Training and assessment through online sessions on computer skills
Computer skill training for the month of October 2020, moved from the basic typing and 10 finger method to more interesting and challenging topic. Training began on the toll palette of MS word and its application. This whole month topics like inserting table, changing the table layout, bullets, inserting pictures from the internet and basic picture formatting were covered. Duration for each topic varied for each group as the learning pace is different for each group. Suitable assignments were given for each topic and the trainees were encouraged to practice more.
Continuation of online sessions on therapy and vocational academics
OT Therapy
OT therapy for the month of October 2020 focussed on revision of all the exercises done so far. Therapist took 6 to 8 activities for a session and a clear recap was given. Trainees were asked to perform each task individually and it was finetuned for perfection. This was very essential at this point as we could consolidate and summarise all the exercises learnt so far.
Vocational Academics
In vocational academics, the money concept was introduced in a phased manner and entered into the ultimate stage of doing shopping independently. This includes checking the bill amount, tending the nearest highest currency and getting back the balance amount from the shop keeper. To do the calculations, usage of calculator was introduced. The trainees were made to understand that.
Totalling involves addition and finding balance involves subtraction and it is the core of the shopping procedure. Virtual training experience in shopping is imparted with colorful power point presentations. Our trainees are waiting to visit a mall and waiting to experience in real life what they have learnt so far.
Individual counselling for the staff
During this difficult period, as a unit we have been striving very hard to adapt to the situations and yet to keep up with the pace. We all are trying to fit ourselves into this new normal and to maintain a healthy balance in our lives. So at this juncture all the staff members were given a chance to vent out their feelings and express their difficulties. In the month October all the staff members had individual counselling session with our counsellor. Each session went up to 1 hour or so and this really helped us feel rejuvenated.
Celebrations
Chanting
The month itself started with a wonderful note. On 01 October 2020, a sloka chanting was organised and done for the wellbeing of all. The same was viewed by many of our trainees, parents, staff and well-wishers through live video sharing. Our founder director Dr. Vasudha Prakash and our managing trustee Dr. Prakash Natarajan led the pooja. A few more other units and admin people also participated in the same.
Vijayadasami
On 26 October 2020, we celebrated Vijayadasami day. Thought it did lack the usual grandeur and cheer, it did not lose its significance of an auspicious beginning. 3 trainees who were present at the centre participated and recited slokas and rendered devotional songs.
Production – Kocoatrait, SNEH
Kocoatrait – Screen-printing for the chocolate wrappers for Kocoatrait has been going good. In the month of October, we complete the order of 4 designs, 500 prints for each. SNEH – We are assigned the task of coconut shell polishing. Though there are only a few trainees, we could finish polishing about 25 coconut shells last month.
Participation in the demo session by Sol’s arc on their digital learning platform, Pathways.
3 members from YES participated in the demo session conducted by Sol’s arc on their digital learning platform Pathways. This demo is basically to understand their curriculum and the feasibility of enrolling our trainees into that program.
Parents meeting
On the last day of the month, 31 October 2020, we had an online meeting with all the parents to get their feedback. It was very nice to know that a few more trainees would start coming from the month of November. This meeting also helped us make a plan of action fro the coming days.
Thus, the month of October which started with wonderful positive note ended with lots of hope and confidence that we are slowly but steadily getting back to our near normal routine. As always hoping for better days to come.