"There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered." Nelson Mandela
V-Excel News
It was a mega celebration of children’s enthusiasm and abilities this month, all wonderfully packaged in the Sports Day on the 6th February!
Our Chief Guest for the function - Mr. G. Narayanan, Executive Director of Indian Overseas Bank and our Guest of Honour - Mr. Madhavan Sadgopan, Head
of Cognizant Foundation, were evidently moved and spoke straight out of their heart when they congratulated the teachers for their commitment
and efforts, applauded the children for their energy and zeal, and greatly appreciated the initiative of our Founder-Director in taking on holistic
development of these special children. Parents, who had accompanied their children, watched the entire proceedings with smiles on their lips and
tears in their eyes.
This month we held the ATE Convocation; we felicitated 22 trainees-turned-Special Educators who took a solemn oath to do all within their means for
the benefit of children with developmental disabilities. Mrs. Usha Ramakrishnan, a veteran in the field of Special Education, presided over the
function and reiterated the significance of the role the new special educators had taken up.
Senior Advocate R. Gandhi of the Chennai High Court was our Chief Guest for the occasion. He admired their choice of profession, which is not a
very easy path, and wished them well for their future endeavours.
Kaleisdoscope Learning Centre
Sports day depicted by different ‘Seasons’ dawned clear and brought on the 6th of February. It was a colourful, entertaining and innovative morning,
and all the teachers and students deserved the resounding success that it turned out to be. The autumn drill, the umbrella song and the celebration
of summer with the zipee day song captured the moods of nature well. Hearty Congratulations to the team of teachers and therapists, superbly coordinated
by Vyshnavee and Jayanthi Srinivasan, and a special mention of Vasanthi and Latha who were in charge of the props.
This has also been a month of student internships. We had students from SIET College, Madras School of Social Work and MERF who came for observation,
case studies and some volunteering.
The exchange of knowledge and experiences after the successful Bangalore workshop has been regular and the white board in the foyer of KLC has been
widely used for the purpose of a common activity and for passing on information about a time for a certain eurythmy exercise!!! All in all, this month
as been active, and very interactive, and every one has been travelling on their individual path or on group paths. The effect of the teaching that
happened in the workshops is revealing itself slowly but surely.
As a part of the study block selected for this month, the classes have been making field trips to a farm and other gardens to observe and learn about
different ecosystems.
Academy for Teacher Excellence
The trainees were given specific duties for Sports Day, the highlight of this month, and were very enthusiastic in their participation during
the rehearsals. Their bonding with the children in the months of December and January paid off. Their efficient and effective handling of their duties
at the event was highly appreciated and gave them the required confidence of closely interacting with special children.
The rest of February was very hectic with the trainees working simultaneously on two case studies. Lesson plans, teaching aids, evaluations – the
work was overwhelming but the trainees took it in their stride, supporting one another whenever required.
Early Intervention Unit
The focus in the Early Intervention Unit has been on various aspects of home training program. This program consisted of sensory diet and
skills training in different areas of development. The important aspects were to ensure an active role of the parents, facilitate them to learn,
train them on the normal development learning process, and work towards partnership between parents and the therapist. The home management program
is child-specific and regular follow-ups are a must for effective implementation. We take into account the parents’ capabilities and social acceptance
of the child. Our aim is to see that care and love are the foundation and that the child does not become helpless and passive.
Research shows that children who experience variety of stimulating exploratory activities move up in their development quotient. All the children
are special in their abilities and hence developing and guiding these abilities should start at an early age.
Sensory diet, a carefully designed personal activity schedule that provides the required sensory inputs to the nervous system, forms a very crucial
component of our development plan. The brain must properly process information from the senses to develop concentration and organization, build self-esteem
and self-control, enhance capacity for abstract reasoning and improve neuro-muscular development.
Bridges Learning Academy
The first week of February was spent in a series of practice sessions for the forthcoming Sports Day. Kudos to all our children for their spectacular
performance, both in the Spring Drill and in another movement activity that they performed along with the VRC children. Everyone cheered them and
appreciated their lovely costumes. They thoroughly enjoyed the two races ‘Crunch and Quench’ and ‘Help, I am freezing’ and were thrilled to receive
their medals and certificates.
After three weeks of fun-filled, yet tiring rehearsals, it’s now back to the routine. All the children are working hard and there is no doubt that
they will do very well in the Annual Examinations to be held in the month of April ‘09.
V-Excel Remedial Centre
The teachers, who attended the workshop in Bangalore (focused on Anthroposophy, a science for deeper understanding of human beings) in January ’09,
expectedly, brought back a lot to discuss with their colleagues. We have therefore been meeting together every week and sharing the learnings as well
as experiences with the other teachers. Earnest self-development, questions and answers about children’s programs, concepts of truth, freedom, beauty
and joy are being explored amongst us. Questions about our individual destinies, as well as the destiny of the children who we are entrusted to work
with, form the basis of many a powerful discussion.
Snippets from our classroom:
Abhinav returned to class the next day after grievously being injured on his head by a heavy falling object. What is significant is the courage
and conviction with which he returned. Great going, Abhinav!
Gokul has been making steady progress towards healing himself after he expressed his agony at the rejection regular school environment
many years ago. What is remarkable about this is that he has found peace in his heart at an astronomical progression. Lesson for all of us is that
acknowledgement of the truth in our pain and pleasure leads us well on the path of restoration.
Rural Outreach Program
The government took up an initiative of Training the Trainer on educating children with different disabilities, including physical and mental challenges.
One of our rural Special Educators was identified for the purpose and he has now ensured training to all our 22 Special Educators there.
The benefit of training stated above further cascades to the regular school teachers in over 660 government schools that we work with in Villipuram
district. These schools promote inclusion and hence this training is extremely useful for education of special children. As regards the home based programs,
we train the parents and the neighbourhood community for supporting the children with special learning needs.
Vocational Training Unit
The preparation for Sports Day was a time of enthusiastic learning and the final performances on the 6th filled us all with a great sense of achievement.
The practice sessions helped strengthened the physical stamina of the students. A case in point is the ease with which the girls are now able to pedal
the sewing machine.
Two more months for the academic year to end and we are all busy with reviews and plans for the next year. We conducted a ‘test’ on one of the activities
in the workshop and we were amazed to see how much progress each student has made. In a job involving twelve steps, almost all of them could get about 10
correct – a major feat for the kind of developmental challenges faced by our students.
When we see the significant progress in Charanya, we wish we could pinpoint the effect of each input and see what really worked right for her! (So that
we can duplicate it). It has been a combination of many things starting with working in a structured environment in a workshop to cutting vegetables in
the kitchen. She definitely boosts our morale!
Counseling and Assessment Unit
The month passed in the Sports Day fever. It was good to see that despite the hectic schedules of practice all the children were able to cope well.
Play Therapy has been paused for some and some old ones have come back for more insights. Overall, it is heartening that the children have shown
steady improvement.
We are fortunate to have a new trainer for play therapy in our midst, Ms. Radhika Inuganti. She has been trained in the U.S and has practiced Play
Therapy for 15 years there. The sessions with her are very stimulating.
Contact Info :: India:
V-Excel Educational Trust
#1 Norton 2nd Street
Mandaveli Chennai 600 028
Tel: 91 - 44 - 24620243
91 - 44 – 24956373 E-mail us or visit us at www.v-excel.org
Contact Info :: USA:
Academic Concepts, Inc.
1403 Merrywood Drive
Edison, NJ 08817
Tel: (732) 572-3748
Tax ID: 22-3632715 E-mail us
Volunteer Info:
Volunteers are an integral part of our success. Our most pressing needs are in the areas of occupational and speech therapies, and
as teacher aides. We also require assistance in library management.
If you have any of these and are interested in volunteering at V-Excel, please contact us.
India Autism: Trying Tradition
In India, old ideas are giving new options to treating autism. Liz Neisloss reports on that country's approach.
I vividly remember little Dayananth stepping into the portals of V-Excel for the first time. His head was bent, his gait slow and unhurried, and his
hands had a slight tremor. He looked up at me with a question in his limpid eyes, “Will I be happy here?”
The reason for his hesitation and diffidence became evident much later, after I had had a detailed discussion with his parents. They described the
traumatic experience he had faced in his previous school, where the teachers had been totally unaware of DYSLEXIA. He had been labeled ’dumb’
and ’stupid’ and to top it all, had been forced to go to each class with his English answer sheet, in which he had scored a zero, pinned on his back.
Gradually, Dayananth was taught letter–sound association, using flash cards, sight words and other aids. He was able to comprehend that each
letter has a different sound, sometimes more than one. The day he actually started reading on his own is clearly etched in my memory.
When he read – THE CAT SAT ON THE MAT- correctly, his eyes lit up and he had a broad smile on his face. From then, there has been no looking back
for Dayananth.
DAYANANTH HAD LEARNT TO READ!
Contributed by Mrs. Meher Sriram
Sensory Diets
Patricia Wilbarger, M.Ed, OTR, FAOTA coined the term “sensory diet” and it has been traditionally used in occupational therapy when using a
sensory integration or sensory modulation framework. A “sensory diet” refers to those experiences an individual's system “needs” in order to
self-organize and function throughout each day. Although these experiences are typically engaged in without the conscious awareness of their
complexity or of the purposes they serve, it is often beneficial to facilitate an increased awareness of one's unique system tendencies, patterns
and preferences. With this increased awareness, it is generally useful to support the consumer and/or caregivers in the creation of an individualized
sensory diet.
When creating a “sensory diet” it is important to assist each individual in considering meaningful and purposeful ideas for both preventative purposes
and for use during crisis states. Practice may also be necessary with some of the chosen techniques, in order to experience the full benefit. Creating
a daily or weekly schedule incorporating those things the person finds most beneficial is one of the ways to begin planning for the implementation
of the sensory diet. Once in use, it should be initially and then periodically monitored to determine if any changes need to be made.
Currently, sensory diets are being created and utilized in innovative ways across all age groups and among a variety of populations in psychosocial
practice. Sensory approaches are being included in individualized treatment plans, crisis prevention plans, daily programming and in a host
of other creative ways.
