Providing lifespan services to individuals with special needs...

Greetings from Early Intervention and the Remedial Unit!

Visual perception: A training program was conducted on the 22nd of December 2023, by Ms. Saranya Murugan, Occupational Therapist, EI/VRC, on 'Visual Perception'.

The session started off with what perception meant, how we use our senses to understand the world around us, and delved further into the components of visual perception. The following components of visual perception were explained in detail:

1. Visual discrimination: This refers to the ability to find similarities among and/or differences between two or more objects. For example, differentiating between the letter's 'b' and 'd'.

2. Visual form constancy: This refers to being able to understand that regardless of the object's size, colour, texture, and so on, it is one and the same. For example, 'a' and 'A', although written in different cases, are the same. A dog, regardless of what it is doing (eating, playing, sleeping, etc.), is still a dog.

3. Visual memory is the ability to remember and recall what we see.

4. Visual closure: is the ability to grasp from surrounding cues what the object of interest is when it is incomplete. For example, being able to read words when part of the page is hidden.

5. Visual figure-ground perception: the ability to separate foreground from background. For example, on a page containing many pictures, being able to identify a picture in particular.

6. Visual sequential memory: the ability to remember and recall the object of interest in the same order that it appeared in. For example, being able to remember someone's phone number.

7. Spatial relationship: the ability to understand the directions and position of an object with regard to another. For example, being able to follow directions using arrow marks.

Ms. Saranya went on to say that visual perception is a part of visual-motor development and that it starts at around 4 months of age. Problems in visual perception may be explicitly visible when the child starts schooling, especially in areas of reading and writing.

Following the session, the participants were given a few activities on visual sequential memory, spatial relationships, visual discrimination, and visual form constancy to demonstrate how we use visual perception in our day-to-day lives. Ten participants took part in the session.

3rd December - World Disability Day

Every year 3rd December is observed as the International Day for the Disabled. On this important day, several events are conducted by the State's Social Welfare Department to promote awareness about people with disabilities. On the other hand, efforts are taken to encourage the disabled, by implementing a lot of assistance in their real lives, to enhance their way of life and remove the social stigma towards them.

This year too, an awareness rally was held in which teachers and students from special schools, participated. It was preceded by a skit performed by Physiotherapy medical college students depicting few ways of changing the negative attitude of the Public about disabled people into positive attitude, causing recognition of their skills, needs and rights.

Students held placards on rights of disabled and quotes on inclusivity. Guests' speakers made the audience aware about various schemes of Nashik Municipal Corporation. Food packets and woollen blankets were distributed to students.

7th December - School Picnic

School picnic was organized for the children of all the three centers. Children in school uniform, filled with excitement and enthusiasm, when the bus headed towards the picnic spot 'Aamchi maati Aaamchi manas' a beautiful eco-friendly resort with a lovely ambience with birds, turf, play area. There were statues depicting the rural lifestyle. Children spent quality time playing various games like football, kick ball, cricket. Small children had fun on slide and swing. Everyone enjoyed the delectable lunch spread.

22nd December - Christmas Celebration

Christmas is the festival which inspires the spirit of sharing and caring. Christmas celebration was held on 22nd December at all the centres. The school was beautifully decorated and everybody was dressed in red and white. At Bridges Learning Academy students made the wall hangings and decorated the walls and doors, younger children colored Santa worksheets. The programme started with an information about Christmas and why is it celebrated.

The event ended with cheerful Christmas greetings as the students danced to the melodious tunes of 'Jingle Bells' and 'We wish you a merry Christmas'. The dazzling entry of Santa Claus added to the joy and excitement of the students. The boundless joy of celebrating the festival was visible on the faces of all the children. Children enjoyed plum cake and chocolates. It was a joyous and an amusing occasion for everyone.

December, being the last month of the year and also marks the birth of Jesus Christ and Christmas, we had story telling sessions for the children on Christ and Carols singing by our staff. We had our celebrations on 22 nd Dec . The pre-vocational children were all busy making the Christmas tree and the manger, our front office looked very festive with all the children decorating them. As stars hold an important place in the celebrations, the Primary group children made paper stars and had colouring activities. There was lot of fun and frolic.

Moments to cherish

Master Niranjan was diagnosed as having ASD and had started coming to us from 2nd February 2022. He had difficulties in the areas of eye contact sustenance, sensory and behaviour issues. He also had seizure disorder. IPP was made after a series of assessments, observations and discussions. He was regular for our therapy and remedial sessions. After two years, a reevaluation was done. Since his challenges had reduced considerably, he was recommended for the school program, initially for two hours. We are very happy to see that he can cooperate well and engage in the activities given. The improvement that we see gives us very strong assurance and motivation. Looking forward to adding more and more success stories.

Wishing all a very happy and prosperous New Year 2024!

We were given an opportunity to be a part of the free screening camp that was organised by the Early Intervention and Remedial unit of V-Excel in collaboration with Tata Power CSR. This was done in Tirunelveli for about 200 children for the Anganwadi in and around Manur - Gangaikondan region, on November 29, 30 and Dec 1st.This was done under the guidance of our unit head Ms. Lekshmi Ramesh and her team. The senior therapist and one special educator of our center were involved in the screening camp. This was a learning and a very fulfilling experience for us. We met the teachers and children and interacted with them.

3rd December - Legal Rights of Disable Persons

On the occasion of the International day of person with disability, our V Excel Centre held a program of legal information and legal rights of disabled persons on 3rd December. The day is about promoting the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities at every level of society and development, and to raise awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of political, social, economic, and cultural life.

ADVOCATES were invited to share these information to parents. ADVOCATES were welcomed by Mrs. Sunita Vaidya.

Adv. Snehal Raut

Rights of persons with Disabilities Act 2016

Adv. S.M.Zurale

Person with disabilities and Government Scheme.

Adv. Devyani Kingi

*District legal services authority and its role to benefit Disabled persons.

Adv Snehal Raut gives information about rights of persons with disabled persons Act 2016. The RPWD Act, 2016 provides that “the appropriate Government shall ensure that the PWD enjoy the right to equality, life with dignity, and respect for his or her own integrity equally with others.” Equality, free education up to 6 to 18 yrs., free medical facilities, equally in family properties, reproduction right, etc. Adv. S. M. Zurale gave information about government schemes like encouraging people with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities for pursuing educational/ vocational courses, graduation courses, professional courses and vocational training leading to employment or self-employment. Disability should be more than 40%. Then these schemes are applicable. Adv. Devyani Kingi gave information about District legal services authority and roles to benefit Disabled persons. Disabled persons are a part of our general community. But are often ignored and excluded to a great extent. Legal services mean free legal aid to this section within the Legal Services Authority. Free legal camps, awareness camp, legal rights, free advocates are given by the government.

All this information was shared by Advocates. Parents asked them their queries and collected lots of information

6th & 7Th December - Sports Day

Sports are super important in schools. They promote physical fitness, teamwork, and discipline and instil values related to healthy competition. Sports day was celebrated at the V-Excel Centre. Rather than being seen as mere extracurricular activities, sports should be regarded as an integral part of the curriculum. On 6th December sports conducted for Vocational students. Students participated very enthusiastically and the dress code was white t-shirt and black pants. On 7th December sports day was conducted for early intervention kids. Little champs participated enthusiastically and with sportive spirit. They also had the same dress code. Games held were- Lemon-and-spoon race, three - legged-race, running 500 mtr race for vocational students and 200mtr for early intervention and fun games like throwing the ball in a bucket, and so on. All the students and teachers, also parents, enjoyed it a lot. The winners were rewarded with prizes and medals.

25th December - Christmas Day Celebration

Christmas day is celebrated all over the world on December 25. People celebrate Christmas day to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ—who is believed to be the Messiah. We celebrated Christmas day happily with children participating in a number of activities, including Christmas decorations like handcrafted bells, Christmas cards, decorated trees and stockings. They were told the stories of Santa Claus and the birth of the Lord Jesus. Class rooms were decorated by students with white and red balloons and stars on the Christmas tree. Vocational students made cupcakes for celebration. Some students played the role of Santa and distributed cakes.

Early intervention students cut the cake and all students and teachers enjoyed the cake. All students enjoyed rhymes of jingle bells and some Christmas carols and dancing on songs. Children attended the Christmas day celebrations wearing red and white party attire and bringing their favourite lunch items.

The day was full of happiness and joy.

Vaikunda Ekadasi is a 21-day long festival celebrated at Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu. The festival began with Thirunedunthaandagam on December 3 and ended on January 2, 2024. The festival is divided into two parts: Pagalpatthu (morning part) and Irappatthu (night part). The opening of the Paramapathavasal gates, which is the most auspicious and central event of the annual festival, was scheduled for December 23. The Paramapada Vaasal is considered an important event among the 20-day long festival.

The trainees of our unit along with the staff visited the temple to be a part of this auspicious occasion. First, we visited the Garuda's Temple, Thayaar Sannidhi, and then Chakkarathalwar Sannidhi. After that, trainees had lunch and started to get through the Paramapada Vaasal. One of our support staff had got permission and priority was given to our trainees in the queue, that helped us have the darshan in time.

We also got darshan of the two golden lizards on the ceiling of the Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam. They are believed to be sages who had turned into lizards because they had prepared the sacred prasadam carelessly and were redeemed through penance.

Srirangam Ranganathaswamy Temple is famous for its Sambara Dosa, which is also known as Srirangam Pizza. This dosa is distributed to devotees visiting the temple during Vaikunta Ekadasi. Sambara dosa has a unique taste and flavor and is made with a special recipe. We had this dosa and our trainees were happy to have eaten very special food that is available only during the festive season.

On the whole, this was a very satisfying experience for all of us.

Disability Day Celebration

On December 2nd 2023, we celebrated World Disability day by conducting art competition and dance competition to cheer up our children's art talent. We also did a wall art by drawing a tree and placing the fingerprints of our students, parents and staffs as leaves of the tree, to create a memory on world disability day.

On 8th December 2023, dental checkup and parent counseling held at V-Excel Pandharpur by Dr. Amruta Doshi a dentist and member of Inner Wheel club, and President of Inner Wheel club Mrs. Haridaas with other members visited our center. Dr. Doshi did a dental checkup of all kids very playfully. He gave guidance for cleaning teeth and counseling for precautions. She had declared facilities for further treatments.

On 30th December, we had a speech by Mr. Dattatray Khatal. He gave information about the procedure for making UDID card and all government facilities for disabled people. Parents and teachers attended the session.

December started with our CSR partner Grundfos CEO and team's visit, performance of our Choir at various places including the Governer's place at Raj bhavan. The month ended with New Year eve celebration and Open Day for our parents.

Visit by Grundfos Pumps Ltd. Team on 1st Dec 2023

Our CSR partner Grundfos Pumps Ltd., Chennai organised the visit of their CEO Ms. Usha Subramaniyan along with CSR team Ms. Apoorva and Ms. Krithika. They had a tour of the classroom and experienced the activities which they found very interesting. Trainees taught the activities and Ms. Usha was very happy to get involved and interacted patiently. Apoorva and Krithika enjoyed all the activities along with the trainees. Our Founder-Trustee Dr. Vasudha Prakash and Advisor Prof. Anand along with Usha and Charu were there to discuss the way forward with the Grundfos team. They were very happy about our work and progress of the project. They visited the main branch Sharada along with Dr. Vasudha Prakash.

V-Excel Sargam Choir Group Performance On The International Disability Day 3rd Dec 2023 At Various Places

Performance A:

Four of our trainees along with one trainer are being trained by Dr. Sudha Raja of Sargam Choir Group, along with YES trainees. She taught them few bhajans and songs along with Note swaram for the past 3 months. The first performance was on 3rd Dec 2023, the commemoration of the World Disability Day at Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan. SCiARTRUs had organised inclusive festival Marghazhi Matram 2023. VTU and YES trainees and trainers sang along with the Carnatica Brothers and Sargam Choir group. It was a great initiative and trainees had an amazing experience. The audience were overwhelmed by the performance and happy to watch a different kind of program during the music season.

Performance B:

Movement And Dance Therapy Performance At Danzaa On Their 10th Yr Anniversary

VTU along with YES trainees performed on the 10th anniversary of Danzaa, western dance school at Lady Andal Auditorium, Chetpet. Despite heavy rain all parents came with their wards and trainees were very happy. An AV of Usha and Charu who spoke about our organisation and movement therapy was played. We received full support from the audience and cheered our trainees when they performed. For few trainees it was the first experience to be on stage.

Performance C:

Performance at Global Heritage Music & Art Fest 2023 on 14th Dec 2023 at Sri Sankara Vidhyashraman Mat. School Auditorium

VTU trainees had performed 3rd time with YES and Sudha Sargam Choir on 14th Dec 2023 at the Global Heritage Music & Art Fest at Sankara Vidhyashram School Auditorium. SCiARTRUs had organised inclusive festival Marghazhi Matram 2023. V-Excel and Sargam Choir performed along with Vid. Rajesh Vaidhya, Veena and his accompaniments. This was a very proud moment for our trainees and the organisation.

Performance D:

Performance At Raj Bhavan On 22nd Dec 2023

It was indeed the best moment of the year for our organisation and trainees that Choir group were given opportunity to perform at the Dakshni Basha Yatra – An inclusive journey into the classical South of India presented at Raj Bhavan. Honourable Governor of Tamil Nadu Thiru. R.N. Ravi was present and gave away mementos and watched our V-Excel Sargam choir songs.

Performance E

Performance At Dharma Paripalana Trust On 29th Dec 2023 At Harihara Hall, Sri Anantha Padmnabhan Temple Adyar

Trainees served snacks and drink to the parent after the Open Day. The main program started where all trainees, staff, teachers, and support staff showcased some landmark events around the world in the year 2023. A globe was made by Vasanth our therapist and artist. Trainees walked the ramp along with a trainer who held a placard explaining about each event of the world and enacted the same in a simple manner. An AV was played in the background. Red, white and green rangoli powder was sprayed on the model globe to create a visual learning impact for the trainees as the events were categorised into violence/destructive, Peace and Futuristic.

V-Excel December Winter Fest 2023

VTU and all units got together for the most awaited Winter Bazaar which was held on Saturday, 16th Dec 2023 at Sharada. VTU oversaw the Food Court, music program and the food stall. VTU offered panagam, buttermilk as morning drink and masala vadai and bajji for snacks in the evening. We also displayed our products along with all units. We had good response despite the rains and all relished the dishes along with music and dance.

Charu, Usha, Gayathri, and Rishi attended 35th Anniversary of Swabodhini Special School on 18th Dec 2023. Gayathri presented the best practices and success stories of V-Excel beautifully and was well received by other NGO's.

New Year Celebration On 29th Dec 2023

VTU had a simple, productive, and informative New Year Celebration on Friday 29th Dec 2023 at Sreyes. We had invited parents for Open Day where they observed the activities of the classroom. This gave them an experience of the vocational activities of their wards.

They came with enthusiasm to the work area where Charu and Usha explained about every activity. Trainees first gave a demo of their activities and then taught the parents too. They were surprised and happy to see how all trainees were engaged and able to do all of these with ease. Few of the parents could not understand, but still trainees were motivating them. This was an amazing experience for all.

Finale was trainees' performance of Jai Ho dance, trained by Danzaa and choir group rendered ‘Maitrim Bhajatha' song for world peace in 2024.

Vocational Activities/Functional Academics/Therapy/Counselling/Movement Dance Therapy

• Trainees were busy with block printing for the SNEH order.

• They made paper rolls, jute pen stand, cardboard gift hampers for all the Trustees and Unit Heads.

• They were rehearsing for the New Year event daily.

• Lokesh and Ashwin attended the training at Writer’s café

Functional Academics:

• Uma had group sessions on topics covering about important festivals of all religions and countries and festivals.

• She had individual sessions on typing skills, social skills, personal hygiene, money concept, importance of wearing the right attire.

Counselling session and Therapy/Movement Dance Sessions

• Jayadevi had individual counselling for trainees, staff, and parents.

• Vasanth was regular and had both group and individual sessions.

• Ram from Danzaa had few classes this month due to too many holidays.