Providing lifespan services to individuals with special needs...
Strides Newsletter - May & June 2021 - Issue 181
Counseling & Assessments
From Radhika Sasankh's Desk
The best part of being in a group therapy is that you dont have to do everything alone!
May and June were months that saw many Group Therapies for Paypal and also internally for various units of V-Excel. These have been trying months that saw loss of many precious lives. The grief, fear, anxiety, uncertainty was overwhelming for those who lost some of their near and dear ones.
There were 8 grief group therapy sessions for Paypal in these months and our counsellors were there each time for the teams that lost their friends and colleagues and helped them process their grief and come to terms with their own difficult emotions and thoughts. Team members joined from the US and from all across India to hold each other's hands in support during those difficult times.
Nashik centre lost a valuable friend and colleague – Snehal Gadge the Music Therapist and also a parent of one of the students who had been a pillar of support for them. There were also observations by Lekshmi Ramesh and Lakshmi Sudhakaran that the staff of EI and the Satellite centres seemed adversely impacted by the pandemic and felt they needed to feel supported.
Mindfulness guided meditation sessions were conducted for the staff of Nashik, EI, Srirangam and Erode centres as a means of relaxation and learning to process their unhelpful emotions and thoughts and to let go.
Counselling department also helped in collating feedback and testimonials from parents of all units in order to understand their needs better, so as to improve and to fill gaps if any and at the same time to feel encouraged and stay motivated by knowing where our services and support has also helped them in the development and care of the child/trainee.
Where unit heads or coordinators requested counselling sessions for parents and teachers going through difficult times, Counsellors scheduled sessions promptly right through the summer vacation and rose to the occasion. Online Consultations have also been going on and home programs given to several children.
Early Intervention and V-Excel Remedial Center
From Lakshmi Sudhakaran's Desk
...
Kaleidoscope Learning Centre
From Gita Bhalla's Desk
May-2021
It's been a quiet month. KLC was closed for students as the summer break. There was also the second wave of the pandemic which hit new heights. Chennai was reeling under the effects of the pandemic and many families in KLC were affected.
It's been a month of hand holding, group praying, individual families being helped. Parents and teachers have been in touch constantly. Voice messages, counselling have been the life line for parents at this time.
Plans are now under way for restarting the new term in June. Some parents have been forced to keep their children at home and remove them from the rolls. Some children have moved cities. Overall the strength of students in KLC has come down and we have about five new admissions for next month.
From KLC a message to share with the rest of the organisation and the friends who are reading this....
URGENTLY NEEDED...
Not BLOOD But, An ELECTRICIAN, to restore the joyful current between people, who do not speak to each other anymore... An OPTICIAN, to change the outlook of people... An ARTIST, to draw a smile on everyone's face... A CONSTRUCTION WORKER, to build a bridge between neighbours... A GARDENER, to cultivate good thoughts... A PLUMBER, to clear the choked and blocked mindsets... A SCIENTIST to rediscover compassion... A LANGUAGE TEACHER for better communication with each other... And Last but not least, A MATHS TEACHER, for all of us to relearn how to count on each other...
Really hoping for better times, normalcy to return and good health and blessings all around. Fight the fear and keep peace and faith alive.
June-2021
KLC reopened on the 7th of June 2021. The summer break which continued into the lockdown in Chennai, compounded the feeling of things being stuck in an irrevocable manner. Teachers met in the last week of May and planned, how best in the circumstances we could serve the needs of the students and parents. Parents needing a break, students needing a purpose, a routine, and some structure to the day.
What resulted in June was something that could fill a book of ideas. As you scroll to read, you will find that June was one of the most prolific months that we could have, the pandemic notwithstanding. Each class began the morning with a circle time with their teachers where, movement, speech, prayers, general knowledge, learning to recite days and months in order, count forward and backward and learn some rhythmic movement was done. Each class had a Main Lesson which was presented online by the teachers and followed up with homework. Teachers also organised craft and hand work classes. Students surprised us with their abilities in comprehension, drawing, following history, geography, nature studies and language and participated as if they were starved of being roused in their spirit.
A tour of the main lesson in each class:
Grade 1 and 3 were doing The Hare and the Tortoise- language
Grade 4 Norse - Idhuna's Apples and Freya's Necklace- language
Grade 5 - Ancient Egypt - Ra and Isis -history
Grade Gaya Hearts - Ancient Rome - Horatius on the Bridge- history
Grade Caring Hearts – Ancient Rome – Julius Caesar - history
Grade Free and Sacred Hearts - Patterns in nature
Students of the senior school did a lot of observation exercises finding stripes and spots in nature. They watched some audio visuals on wildlife and other insect world. Some students learnt how to use their phones as cameras and took some event pictures to illustrate their point. Later they learnt how to write a poem and heard some songs on the same subject. But what was encouraging to see was the excitement of learning a new vocation, being thoroughly engaged and the feeling of being empowered because they learnt to use a mobile phone for a different utility, namely taking photos.
Photos from all classes.
Music for the Whole School has been happening every Thursday between 3 pm to 3.30 pm and students and parents have been joining in.
Teacher's meetings are being held every week on Fridays between 2 pm and 4 pm and teacher reading happens every Friday. Teachers are going deep into the book entitled "Children with a difference" by Walter Hopzaffhasel. We have also started a whole V Excel Reading group which was inaugurated on 15 June. All units are invited and all those Interested in reading the book join us on Tuesday from 4.30 - 5.30 pm...
Arulmozhi, one of KLC's teachers got married on June 16th in Chennai and few of the teachers attended the wedding representing others due to the COVID protocols.
V-Excel Educational Trust
Individualised Education Plan (IEP)
In conventional special education you have Individualised Education Plan (IEP) for children. In Kaleidoscope Learning Centre (KLC), a unit of V-Excel Educational Trust, we also have IEPs for adults – teachers and caretakers. For we believe there's much work to do on us as adults.
We receive children for lack of communication skills among other things but in reality, they are always communicating. It is we as adults who have to learn new ways to listen and observe, grow new organs to perceive this wonder of a child in our care.
For 19 year old Rekha, one of our high school students, words fall short of the enthusiasm she carries for the world. So she found her expression through her hands. She's a chef in KLC's kitchen who can cook over 15 gluten-free vegan snacks independently, and can use a sewing machine with a beginner's proficiency.
Her teacher Shashikala Subramaniam noted her interest in art and began giving her drawing assignments. "She does copy drawing beautifully. It has improved over the years. Her rangolis are done perfectly, even complicated ones.", shares Shashi proudly.
Shashi is currently teaching Roman civilization to her class online and sent a picture of 3 sculptures to Rekha, in connection with their main lesson story. To her surprise, within 20 minutes Shashi received a message. It was Rekha's drawing of the 3 powerful faces of ancient Rome, neatly boxed and labeled. It was also a picture of Rekha's interest in the whole wide world and her readiness to achieve any given task.
Shashi notes, "It has been a learning for me as a teacher never to underestimate our children. When we accept them as they are, they show us who they are, and who they can become."
Satellite Centers
Erode
When we resumed our activities in the center after the first lockdown, we never thought there would be a second lockdown. As situation started getting unfavourable, we planned for Home Program for all our children. When the second lockdown was announced, we started taking online sessions working on the Home Program and also guiding parents. As a modification, we started noting down the responses for the online sessions. Our co coordinator and Ms. Lekshmi Ramesh started talking to parents and also modifying the goals. Every session was made interesting through activities, crafts, singing, brain gym exercises etc. This helps us to review the progress every week and make changes wherever needed.
We have been able to bring in a difference in our children and sharing some of them.
Dharun Jayanth aged 9 years, has been coming to us since September-2019. He has difficulty in his motor activities and also his diet and rhythm. He was given a Home Program and online sessions. Now Dharun was able to make a banana shake with the help of his mother. His diet pattern and sleep has also improved.
We have been getting lot of children with speech related concerns. We are working with them under the guidance of Ms. Lakshmi Sudhakaran and Ms. Lekshmi Ramesh. We are happy to see our student Tanu Sri 9 year old ASD child calling her father "Appa" and also showing interest in the online sessions.
Abhyasa Kendra, Srirangam
We have been really battling with the pandemic since the start of the second wave. We had made Home Program well in advance and reached it to all parents with instructions. But many parents were not able to follow it because of reasons like too much of household work for mothers, mental stress, non-cooperative attitude of the trainess etc.
When situations were slightly better, we resumed the online sessions. The goals that we set for these sessions were:
1. Review of the effectiveness of the Home Program - how much the parents were able to implement
2. Revisiting the Home Program with each step demonstrated and instructing the parents.
3. The Vocational group trainees to be trained on Functional Academics and other hands on activities with a view to admit them in the Production Unit as soon as the physical sessions resume.
Though it was not easy to conduct online sessions, special educators always find some AHA moments that give them a boost and meaning for their work.
Sharing some of them penned by the special educators:
Vasuki
Harini, our trainee with ASD, aged 45 has been coming to us for some years. We were training her for her ADL's. Domestic skills,craft work and also were working on her behaviour issues. She was making good progress in all these. But the lockdown and being at home brought lot of regression in her. Her mother who had health issues could not manage her. It was so difficult to make her do some work that she started hitting the mother. The mother was very depressed. I started my online sessions by talking to the mother and Harini. Slowly she started enjoying my sessions. The mother was also given tips on managing her meltdowns. I could see a change in her . Now, Harini is helping her mother in making coffee, cleaning the house, dressing herself and also small chores at home. She still has behaviour concerns, but I am happy I could bring in some change in her and her mother.
Pavithra
Sharing with you about my student Rupasri, aged 15. I use to give her lot of physical activities when she was coming to the center as She is an overweight girl. This lockdown had made her so lethargic that she wanted her mother to serve her food and other things to her and she refused to help her mother also. I started her sessions with songs that she liked. I also made her identify common objects and she started answering simple questions also. I made flash cards to familiarise with the names of her family members. She started liking it .I also instructed the mother to engage in activities that she would like doing. She is happy when I talk to her softly with a smiling face and gets agitated when she feels I am angry. She is now engaged in household activities, looks forward to my sessions that we both enjoy. Waiting for physical sessions where I will be able to do lot more for her.
A page from the life of a parent and special educator.
Rekha our Co-ordinator for Srirangam
Sanjay Prasanna, my son aged 15 is quick to learn any behaviour or activity. He being in the spectrum has difficulty in expressing his thoughts and emotions. So tantrums, biting his hands, shouting, hitting others are some of the way he expresses himself. The pandemic has made life for children like him more strenuous. He has no routine to follow, not able to understand the situation, have added on to his problems: a typical adolescent who is stuck with no options.
To parent an adolescent is indeed a challenge. To be armed with an extra qualification of Special Educator has its own advantage. First I chalked out a plan to reduce the temper tantrums and improve his behavior. I ensured that he was with me the whole day helping me out with the household chores. Then we spent some time playing or learning something new. This helped to overcome his boredom.
I stay calm in his presence. While I speak to him, I ensure that my tone is soft at the same time firm. This helps to make him understand the instructions clearly. It is a difficult situation for the parent, but being consistent and dedicated helps me to overcome the difficulties that I face. As a parent I keep myself motivated and keep my body and mind strong. For I feel I am a special mother not a mother of a special child.
Let us stay strong and let us keep calm!
Activity for the month
International Yoga day (21-06-2021) was celebrated in a simple manner. A zoom session was conducted where 15 trainees, 5 teachers alongwith Ms. Lekshmi Ramesh attended. It was conducted by Ms. Sumitha our Yoga teachers. She showed the asanas and exercises , which the trainees enjoyed repeating. We are planning to have more yoga sessions for our trainees through online till situation improves.
Shall share more exciting and AHA moments.
Vocational Training Unit
From Usha Rajagopal's Desk
May-2021
This month began with second wave which was very severe and the Government imposed lockdown and it which was very intense. Home program was shared to all the parents of the trainees and for few independent trainees, raw materials were sent and was given targets to make the few products.
Some of our trainees home program activities
ADITYA MOHAN: Online music performance
He is busy performing online kutcheries since lockdown and also pursuing his B.A. Music. He is also helping his mother in household chores inbetween his practice and listening to fusion music which is if favourite.
Supraja: Making of jute pen stand and bowl
A target of 1 each in a day was assigned and every week she has to report to the teacher. She was very sincere and dedicated in doing this work. A timetable was prepared and shared along with the raw materials to the parents on the last day. She enjoyed and knows the full process of the making this product with perfection.
Vishal: Household chores – need of the hour
Due to the sudden demise of his mother in April, we gave him a home plan that would help him to manage himself by doing household chores and cooking activities. This was the need of the hour. Vishal enjoyed cooking and aimed for perfection while preparing the dish. He also did jute braiding as one of the vocational activities.
Mahesh: Household chores and farming (at his village)
During the lockdown in May, Mahesh went to his village near Kalpakkam. He followed the home program that we had sent to him and he was involved in doing his household chores and their farming activities.
Pranav: impact of online class during lockdown and training in center
Pranav surprised us last lockdown by sitting through all four hours of online class. During this lockdown, he volunteered and helped his mother in chopping vegetables. She was surprised that he offered to help. Now he continues to help her by putting the clothes to dry, folding the clothes and keeping it in the wadrobe.
Sailakshmi: Household chores
Trainees Saravana Prabu and Sunderrajan make the paper bags and have so far done 100 nos. apart from their household chores. Other trainees are able to do basic household chores and keep themselves busy as per the time table sent.
June-2021
This month began with continuation of second wave lockdown and started with online classes for trainees. The online classes towed the home program of the respective trainees. A routine of certain household activities lending a helping hand to family along with some activity towards making of a product was designed for them. By third week the center reopened for staff and teachers.
Teachers started online classes with allotted trainees. This time the online program was with a difference. It was to guide/supervise, the trainees in the household chores (as per their program) and help their parent's family routine. This was very useful for parents and encouraged the teachers by giving the list of chores and schedule in their respective houses. Teachers were allotted trainees and timing were fixed in coordination with the parents. Teachers guided the trainees online by showing how to sweep, mop the floor, dusting, cleaning, using washing machine, utensils etc., The trainees followed and did the work.
Trainees performed yoga at their respective houses on the International Yoga Day.
Charu in coordination with Gayathri, Coordinator of YES, organized vaccination drive both camp and door to door step for the trainees with the help of Commissioner and staff of DDAWO and Greater Chennai Corporation. The camp was help at our Sharada our main building were 7 trainees along with 8 caregivers and staff were vaccinated. Around 25 trainees were vaccinated at their door step. The team did a wonderful coordination and were very courteous and trained to handle our special needs and our parents were very happy to give their feedback.
Parent's feedback :
Hari got vaccinated today. Thank you so much for the help. With great difficulty, the injection was given. This was possible only because of the dedicated team who came home and handled him patiently. Thanking you once again.... from the bottom of my heart.
Reading session for all the unit heads and teachers started and the title of the book is "Children with a Difference by Walter Holtzapfel". The session is scheduled for weekly once and the mentor will given explanation on the topic read that week.
Trainee Gazali has started attending the automobile workshop (Sheriff Automobile, Kottivakkam) as it resumed operations post lockdown. From this academic year, he will be interning for full 5 days a to give him continuous opportunity for experiential learning .This was requested by the owner of the workshop. He has learnt a lot during his three days internship for the past two years.
The center reopened for the teachers and staff on June 23rd , 2021. Series of meeting held by Usha and Charu with teachers to plan for academic year, goals for each trainee, IEP/IPP reporting methods, timetable and the reopening date were discussed.
Youth Empowerment Services
From Gayathri Suryanarayanan's Desk
May-2021
May 2021 was relatively a relaxed month for both trainers and trainees at YES. Though we had planned a vacation period of 2 weeks, due to the imposed state level lockdown we could resume operations at the centre. Nevertheless, we started our online sessions on 17 May 2021. We could also implement the vaccination drive for staff and trainees.
Key highlights for the month of May 2021.
• Vaccination drive for the trainees
• Online activities
Home program review
Music session
Recap session – Functional academics
Story telling session– Moral values
Ventriloquism session
Birthday celebration
Vaccination drive for the trainees
A very vital and a much-needed vaccination drive for the trainees was initiated in the month of May. After putting in lots of efforts and consistent follow up, this took off and in a span of ten days more than 10 trainees got vaccinated either through door step vaccination or in a camp held at the head office on 28 May 2021. This camp also included vaccination for a few of our staff members and caregivers of our trainees. Parents expressed their gratitude and felt a great relief as this drive went well planned.
Online activities
Home program review
As we had given home programs and a proper schedule to be followed, the online sessions with reviewing the home program with each trainee. The week from 17 May till 20 May, a complete review was done and status, progress and challenges were noted. These reviews were done in small groups. This gave a baseline to start our regular online sessions.
Music session
On 19 May, we had an online music session with the help of our volunteer Ms. Rama Viswanathan. All the trainees participated with great enthusiasm and energy. The session was divided into 2 parts. First session was an activity of finding a song and in the second part, trainees learnt and sang devotional bhajan songs. This session greatly helped us unwind ourselves during this tough time.
Recap on functional academics
From 24 May 2021, online sessions on recap of functional academics began. Many worksheets and PowerPoint presentations were made ready and shared with the trainees. Training was done in small groups with 4 trainers having 4 or 5 trainees in each group. Sessions were conducted in zoom breakout rooms.
Story telling session
On 21 May, we had an interesting story telling session. This was conducted by one of our well wishers Ms. Subashree. This session included very interesting short stories with moral values and teachings. Ms. Subashree with her great sense of humor and spontaneity, made this session very interactive. The teachings and values shared in the session were not only very much relevant to the current situation but were much required as good life skills.
Ventriloquism session
On 29 May, we had ventriloquist Mr. Santhakumar performing for our trainees through an online session. He used various props to demonstrate great life values and spoke about the importance of positive thinking. He also sang and did mimicry as part of his performance. Trainees and staff from the other Vocational training unit (VTU) also joined the program. Not only the trainees but all of the staff members enjoyed the session thoroughly.
Birthday celebration
On 18 May, we celebrated our trainee Mithran's birthday online by reaching to him through a video call and wishing him. All the staff members came together and this was done as a surprise to him. He greatly enjoyed with all and beautifully expressed his joy with a smile.
Other Orders and production.
Since the centre was closed, no production work happened in May.
Conclusion
May month was a testing period for most of us as many of us got affected by the virus and a few lost their closed ones also. As we move on to June we sincerely hope and wish that we see better days coming.
June-2021
Though June 2021 began amidst a lock down situation, we could resume operations by the second week of the month. All the staff members started coming to the centre from 08 June and a few trainees started coming from 14 June 2021. For this month we have been following a hybrid model of both online and offline training.
Key highlights for the month of June 2021.
• Resumption of Placement initiatives
• Resumption of Tiffin Times food truck operations
• In house training – IPP
• Question and Answer session on Covid 19 – Dr. Indira Jayakumar
• Admission and enquiries
• Online activities
Recap – Functional academics
OT sessions
Online Quiz
Resumption of Placement initiatives
For the past 1.5 years we could not work much on our placement activities due to the pandemic situation. In an attempt to resume the same, we have started getting in touch with various organisations and individuals. SStraight Circles is one of the organization which is working on social inclusion in terms of employment opportunities. Ms. Lavanya Soman Mark of Sstraight circles showed interest in supporting us with exploring opportunities for our trainees. She was part of on of our online sessions to observe the trainees and to get a better idea about them. It was a wonderful experience for both of us. The process is on and we are working to build a mutually beneficially relationship.
Resumption of Tiffin Times food truck
After having been idle for more than a year, Tiffin Times, our food truck has started seeing some light last month. We have started getting in touch with our existing clients and we have also started looking for possibilities to at least resume its operations partially.
In house training - IPP
As the month of June is the start of the new academic year, training program was organized for the staff. Last month the subject was on working in IPP (Individual Program Planning). Ms. Gayathri Suryanarayanan of YES conducted this training program for both YES and VTU staff members. The training was divided into 2 parts and the focus was on understanding the basics of IPP, strength based IPP and making vision statements. About 12 participants attended these sessions and found them useful.
Question and Answer session on Covid 19 – Dr. Indira Jayakumar
Amidst the covid pandemic, many parents and trainees still live with fear and confusion regarding the same. There are still a lot of doubts and questions about everything related to the Corona virus. In order to help and support them through this, YES organized a Question-and-Answer session with Dr. Indira Jayakumar of Apollo Shine foundation. Dr. Indira along with her colleague Mr. Anand Jayakumar explained very clearly about the virus infection using a simple Powerpoint presentation. After which she took questions from the participants. This was attended by parents and staff of other units apart from YES. There were around 34 participants. It was a very useful and informative session.
Admissions and enquiries
For the month of June 2021, though we did not have any enquiries, we had an admission for our online session which later will be converted in to regular admission
Online activities
Recap – Functional academics, General knowledge, Craft making
Last month we introduced a new format to our online sessions. Each session was divided into functional academics' time, General knowledge time and craft making time. All the trainees were grouped into different breakout rooms for efficient teaching and learning. While measurements, money concept and time concept were revisited in the academics part, Facts about India, culture and its geography and traffic rules were part of the general knowledge part. In craft making they did paper folding. These activities were preceded by the regular breathing and warm up session.
OT sessions
We have started also the online OT sessions last month. Our therapist Mr. Vasanth conducts these sessions twice a week. Trainees are divided into 4 different groups and each group has once a week session.
Online quiz
As part of our online sessions, we also had group activities and online quiz for our trainees. This is more like a reinforcement on the topics they have learnt through the week.
Other Orders and production.
In the month of June we have resumed our production work. Last month we started off with our laundry services, screen printing and baking. We have already completed 1 screen printing order and 1 cupe cake order
Conclusion
June month has certainly given us some space and time to explore opportunities and to do the ground work for future projects. We hope that the coming days are more productive in terms of training and production.