"Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand."
~ Chinese Proverb ~
Academy of Teacher Excellence News
Classes continued as usual. Students were busy turning in reports, attending lectures, and going on field trips.
Kaleidoscope Learning Center (KLC) News
A “Puppet-Therapy” workshop was conducted by Pavithra for a week with our students, followed by an in service program
for the teachers on the use of puppets for educational, and therapeutic purposes.
Independence Day was celebrated with flag hoisting and some children of Kaleidoscope Learning Center dressed up as Freedom
Fighters and National Leaders. Many of the children spoke on the mike for the first time and not only walked in the shoes of
the leaders, but spoke their words too!
Classes Primary V and III went for a Van ride “around the city” and learnt about places of interest, like the bank, police
station, hospital, restaurant. A rewarding experience, children responded to the experiential learning very well.
Vinayaka Chaturthy was celebrated at Kaleidoscope Learning Center with creations from clay. Each class was given clay and
a number of Ganapathies were designed and dressed by the children and teachers. A beautiful collection of Ganeshas were exhibited
with teachers & children singing Bhajans, and prayers were offered with sweets and incense to the gods! It was an extremely
enjoyable and thrilling experience for the children.
V-Excel Remedial Center (VRC) News
Our children have been showing a tendency to become more and more self-reliant and independent with the continued support
of the therapists and special educators. We are striving towards effective interdependency between their peers, parents,
siblings, teachers and others. Some ways in which some of our children have exhibited this are as follows.
Akshay Athreya loves to be the silent leader in remaining calm in the morning group. With his calming presence he shows
the way for others in the group to work together.
Adish communicated with Gokul effectively to facilitate working together with their teacher. Initially Gokul had refused
to allow anybody other than his teacher to be present during class with him. This has resulted in Gokul beginning to enjoy
himself and open up to new experiences. Thanks Adish!
Shafiha has worked hard with her teacher and therapist to overcome huge barriers in transitioning and communication to
verbalize her needs and emotions in class. She now initiates requests for preferred activities. Her mother reports that
she does so at home too.
The teachers and therapist got together for two workshops in the month of August.
To facilitate deeper understanding of the different therapies available for children with Autism, each teacher presented
on different available methodologies such. Miller Method, ABA, RDI, PECS, TEACCH, Greenspan, Wilbarger Therapy and
Son-Rise Program. This was followed by an animated discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of the therapies presented.
The teachers came together at our Adyar Center to further the exchange of ideas and strategies used in the remedial
classes. The topics and skills addressed were reading, writing, motor, sensory needs in the classroom and its management,
independence and goal setting.
Bridges Learning Academy
Ms. Pavithra conducted a puppet workshop with a few children from BLA. The children selected were identified to have
emotional problems. A few of the teachers also attended the in-service provided by Ms. Pavithra at the end of the workshop.
Independence Day saw the BLA children dancing to the tunes of A.R. Rehman’s Vande Matram. It was a culmination of a month-long
exercise in which they had practiced every afternoon. Though all the children participated in the Vande Matram dance, a few
danced to another number choreographed by Mr. Dev, the dance master.
Siddarth, one of our young enthusiastic boys, spoke in Tamil about our freedom struggle on the mike. It was energizing just
to listen to him on the sacrifices the numerous men and women had made to free India!
The afternoon group coordinated by Ms. Chandrika, had spent the whole of July learning about India’s past and the struggle
leading to freedom. The group had wanted to plan out a skit and act it out the children had come up with the story and wrote
out the dialogues. But lack of time made it impossible for them to practice, so the skit was not put up on Independence Day.
End of August saw one of staff members leave us for personal reasons. The children drew cards and wrote thank you notes for
her which was given on her last day. She had small gifts for her class which they loved. The children miss you Lalitha Ma'am!
V-Excel News
NGO Meet: A “Seminar for NGOs on issues surrounding disabilities”, was held on 31st August 2006, at Vaishali Hall, Hotel
Palmgrove. Thiru. V. K. Jeyakodi IAS, State Commissioner for the Disabled, Tamil Nadu honored the occasion. We were
thrilled that 75 people representing 47 institutions attended the meet. The objective of this meet was to connect people
working in this field, and we made some steps in that direction. The interactions of the panel as well the other participants
were pertinent to the wave length of the audience. The meet was for half a day and we could barely touch upon the various
issues pertaining to disabilities: we would like to take this forward with further meetings to discuss strategy to resolve
the issues.
LD Workshop at Kanyakumari: In collaboration with UNICEF, V-Excel conducted a workshop for 50 teachers on Strategies to
overcome Learning Disabilities. The resource persons of the workshop were Dr. Vasudha Prakash, Mr. John Murugaselvam, Ms.
Vijayalakshmi Shanmugha, Ms. Revathi Jaikumar, Ms. Girija Seshadri and Ms. Nandini Santhanam. The workshop was held between
16th and 22nd August 2006 at Nagerkovil and was a huge success.
New Center: V-Excel is planning to start yet another center at Adyar. To begin with the new center will be have the
following services.(1) Early intervention and Sensory Integration Therapy unit (2) Counseling and Assessment Unit and (3)
Vocational Training Unit for young adults with disabilities.
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.
Self Esteem for Our Special Child
Healthy self-esteem is a child's armor against the challenges of the world. Kids who feel good about themselves seem to have
an easier time handling conflicts and resisting negative pressures. They tend to smile more readily and enjoy life. These
kids are realistic and generally optimistic.
Self-esteem is also a combination of feelings of capability and feelings of being loved. A child who is happy with an
achievement but does not feel loved may eventually experience low self-esteem. Likewise, a child who feels loved but is
hesitant about his or her own abilities can also end up with a low self-esteem. Healthy self-esteem results when the right
balance is attained.
Some pointers to nurture your child’s self esteem
1. Watch what you say
2. Be a positive role model.
3. Identify and redirect your child's inaccurate beliefs.
4. Be spontaneous and affectionate with your child.
5. Give positive, accurate feedback.
6. Create a safe, nurturing home environment.
7. Make your home a safe haven for your family.
8. Help your child become involved in constructive experiences.
9. Catch your child being good.
10. Set limits and be consistent with your discipline.
11. Make time for your children.
12. Make communication a priority.
13. Be flexible and willing to adjust your parenting style.
14. Show that your love is unconditional.
15. Be aware of your own needs and limitations as a parent.
