"Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give.."
...William A. Ward
V-Excel News
From mid-September, V-Excel is extending its service for special children in Erode, thanks to the initiative taken by Deepa, mother of one of students from our Early Intervention Unit. She observed that there are hardly any therapy or special education services in Erode but many children who need these. We are looking for sponsors who could help us buy some therapy and play material for the Center. Please contact us or write to us: info@v-excel.org (Please note: all contributions to the Trust are eligible for tax exemption under section 80G of the Income Tax Act of 1961).
The LuvMySib forum for the siblings of special children met together on 18th August. It was a very interactive session. Each sibling was asked to express his/her memorable moments with their special sibling. It was both exciting and touching to listen to each sibling's narrative. There was a lot of exchange of fun and stories between them. We concluded the program with group counseling.
Independence Day celebrations went off extremely well. Children from our Mandaveli Center performed a brief cultural program, followed by flag hoisting and speech by one of our Trustees Mr. Kandaswamy Bharathan. At our Adyar Center, children started with a wonderful march past, after which patriotic songs were sung. The flag was hoisted by Mr. Kannan Sankaran while Dr. Vasudha Prakash, our Director, spoke of how each individual is responsible for the progress of his country.
Kaleisdoscope Learning Centre
In a first ever event for some children, students of Grade 5 and Upper 4 went for an overnight trip to Yelagiri with their teachers. Amidst a lot of fluttering of the heart from parents, the children amazed us all by their independence, their calm adult behaviour in dealing with a new place, new food and all other unpredictable occurrence. It was a very big challenge for the teachers who volunteered to take it on and managed ably. Hats off to you, dear teachers!
August was a busy month of festivals. Ramzan was celebrated with Zubair's amma explaining the significance, treating with sweets, and praying with the children. Krishna Jayanthi came with its usual gusto of pot breaking, Gokul coming alive and beautiful bhajans of Meerabai being sung. Onam was special this year because the mothers took over the charge. Groups of mothers transformed the entire foyer with five beautiful floral carpets and brought in a festive look to our school.
Independence Day was celebrated with great fervour this year with the parents, teachers and children singing patriotic songs in many languages. A short dramatic scene of the massacre of Jallianhwala Bagh was performed by the students of KLC.
Grade 5 went for a photo exhibition on 'Chennai's Heritage of Plants and Trees' in Women's Christian College (WCC). Girls from the Department of Botany in WCC was quite thrilled to see the interest shown by one of our students, Vijai Shravan, and some others in going through all the photographs and later identifying those trees within the WCC premises. Such interactive programs are not just good for our children to mingle but also give an opportunity for the community to understand our children and their capabilities.
Academy for Teacher Excellence
The month began with the culmination event for a series of workshops conducted by us, in association with Kuruvilla Jacob Initiative (KJI). Certificates for were issued to the 65 teachers from 27 different schools in Chennai for successful completion of the training modules.
The basic course in Counseling was completed and the students were awarded certificates. Given that this is just the beginner's Level 1 course, they will not be entitled to work as Counselors as yet. The coming months will see us launching advanced courses for Counseling.
Early Intervention Unit
Facilitating communication in early childhood development has been the focus this month. We assessed the children for their basic speech, language, communication skills on various parameters like comprehension, pointing skills, and receptive skills. Expressive skills using gestures and words, description, initiation of conversation and recalling abstract concepts were considered. Children with hearing impairment were assessed for clarity of speech, articulation error and expressive skills.
Based on the individual assessment, communication intervention was implemented. Parents were oriented on various behavioural issues arising out of communication delay and the need to address these timely. We have found that play is an extremely effective tool for communication and we have now integrated it in our early intervention program.
V-Excel Satellite Centres
At present we have 34 kids on our rolls in our Nashik Satellite Center, each having a unique development program, including one or both, therapy and special education component.
In the third week of August, Dr. Milind Sonawane, a Speech Therapist, working as a rehabilitation specialist in a Government Institution at Ireland, visited our Nasik center for the second time. Fifteen children with speech and language difficulties were referred to him for consultation. He did a systematic profiling of the children referred to him and has given holistic recommendations. We will ensure that therapists, teachers and parents follow the suggestions given by him.
In Tirunelveli, we have hired some more professionals given the need for catering to the special children requesting for the remedial services. Unlike in our Chennai center where we primarily work with developmental and mental disabilities, in Tirunelveli, we also work with children with Cerebral Palsy and other physical challenges given the dearth of specialized services for disabilities per se.
V-Excel Remedial Centre
August has been a particularly challenging month. We have been working with five new children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Their problems include - very low level of sitting tolerance, acute sensory issues, aggression, self injurious behaviour and the like. Our first step has been to try establish a good rapport with the children and to develop their sense of trust in us so that they become comfortable working with our teachers. We will then move on work on their individual goals.
Assessments of two children with Learning Disabilities (LD) are under progress. We completed two review meetings with parents of LD children. Parents expressed satisfaction over the progress made by their children in the areas of reading and writing. They sought help for certain behavior problems. We have arranged for counseling sessions for the children in consultation with the department.
Rural Outreach Program
This month saw regular implementation of the various components of the Sarava Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Program in Villipuram district, with no special events being conducted. School visits and home visits were made to ensure that programs were being run effectively.
The inclusive education work as well as the Resource Rooms and Day Care Centers have been running as usual with active involvement of our Special Educators and Therapists.
Vocational Training Unit
Our students were invited by the Svanubhava Trust for their dance & theatre program held in Kalakshetra (a cultural hub in Chennai) during the first week of August. They all enjoyed the Bhagavata Mela program and Kathakali Bommalattam. Such events are significant for the children not only from the cultural learning point of view but by being in the midst of strangers and communicating effectively improve their socialization skills.
The trainees worked really hard towards the execution of a purchase order of V-Excel products placed by Svanubhava Trust for the above program. The Trust was very happy with their work.
We received an order for 250 thamboolam bags (type of goody bags) and the students strived to achieve an excellent finish for the bags. They have now started making many more of these to cater to the Navaratri orders at the upcoming Dushera festival.
We welcome our new volunteer Mrs. Raji who will be sharing her creative ideas in art and craft.
The Principal and two teachers from the Japanese International School visited our unit. One of them was a Special Educator while one was a Music Teacher. They were extremely appreciative of our curriculum for the young adolescents and adults as well as the work done by our students.
Counseling and Assessment Unit
This month there has been an overall increase in the new cases as well as the follow-up ones from the corporates and other sectors. The ongoing student and parent counseling sessions continued.
One of our counselors who is involved in organising the Siblings forum conducted group sessions and discussions with the older group of siblings and play therapy for younger sibling group. The forum's work is steadily picking up and taking an encouraging shape.
The counseling department conducted in-service training for the teachers. These in-service programs are aimed at de-stressing the teachers and facilitating their emotional expression to prevent burnout. To elaborate, in this month's in-service we did an activity on photo shoot where the participants had to pose for a photo based on the subject given to them spontaneously. It was enjoyed by one and all. This was followed by a painting activity where the participants had to bring light in a chaotic painting. The discussion that followed involved questions such as - how was it to paint randomly, how difficult was it, how was the experience of bringing in the light element and how this changed the mood of the picture. The session brought to fore the importance of creating our own 'light' changes the picture positively; this gives us the courage and strength to create change.
Contact Information
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
V-Excel Center for Research and Rehabilitation
(In assocation with S.V. Sarada Foundation)
50 Sreyes, M.G. Road
Shastri Nagar, Chennai 600 041
Tel: 91 - 44 - 24522061
91 - 44 - 24521986 E-mail us
Academic Concepts, Inc.
1403 Merrywood Drive
Edison New Jersey 08817
Tel: (732) 572-3748
Tax ID: 22-3632715 E-mail us
