"Music without words means leaving behind the mind. And leaving behind the mind is meditation. Meditation returns you to the source. And the source
of all is sound."
Kabir
V-Excel News
When the world famous Carnatic singer T.M.Krishna graciously accepted our invitation to perform specially for our children, our
excitement knew no bounds. As a part of the SushrAvya series, a music initiative of V-Excel and Sumanasa Trust, a program was held on 19th
November at V-Excel. The maestro had our children spellbound, and such was their enjoyment that they refused to get up even after the show
had ended! We had invited children from two special schools, Vidya Sagar and Rasa, this time to share these precious moments with us. The
joy they experienced from the program was evident from their spontaneous singing along!
The Rotary Club of Madras donated a cheque towards sponsorship of the kitchen equipment. Some members of the Rotary Club came to V-Excel
to present the cheque. They also entertained the children with renditions of some melodious film songs. Our students also joined in with karaoke
singing. The occasion was rounded off with a beautiful performance by our Director, Dr. Vasudha, singing a Bhajan.
Furthering our objective of offering specialized remedial services in low-service towns, we conducted an orientation and training program
on the 26th of this month for teachers, special educators, counselors and parents in Nasik, Maharashtra. The program aimed at giving the
participants a deeper understanding of child's development process and guiding them on working with children with learning difficulties. The
workshop was not just extremely well-received but heartily applauded by one and all.
Two initiatives that have immense benefits for children with special needs were actively taken up this month - the Kalainar Kappidu Thittam
Government Insurance Scheme and the National Id Card for persons with disabilities. Under the former scheme, children are covered for an
insurance value of Rs. 100,000/-; 24 of our children are now registered and can avail of the scheme. The latter offers medical and travel
concessions/benefits to card holders. After rigorous follow-ups and consistent efforts from our office team, we have, to date, been able to
get National Id Cards for 77 of our children.
A group of trainees and teachers from our Vocational Training Unit participated in the awareness drive 'Badhte Kadam', conducted by
SPASTN on behalf of the National Trust of India. We had set up a stall and our trainees actively participated in various activities and won
prizes as well!
Kaleisdoscope Learning Centre
Our children with Autism receive Carnatic music well and some ragas, particularly, have a calming effect on them. The Bharathiar songs by
T.M. Krishna were enjoyed by all. After the performance, there were a few minutes of absolute silence and the children did not get up immediately
to go home even though it was beyond 2 p.m. (time to go home). It was like he cast a spell on the audience. Even the teachers remained seated
for a while before quietly ushering the children to the waiting parents.
For a child study case, we select a child from school who has some issues and all the teachers talk about the child. This week the child
selected was Amruth. All the members of the multi-disciplinary team sat in a circle and shared whatever they knew of Amruth in a non-judgmental,
non-opinionated way. All of us carry positive thoughts about the child with us for few days and again have a review about what happened to us
in this process and the thoughts that came to our minds. The questions that emerged were - What have we done as adults to help Amruth? How can
we make him comfortable through his screams? and How can we stay calm when he screams that will help him to calm down? Brainstorming was then
done and some response measures were charted out to help Amruth overcome his issues.
This term every class teacher arranged visits from the parents for class observations. Parents were divided into groups for observation.
All the parents then came together for a group discussion and each parent shared what they observed. Questions raised by parents regarding
the curriculum and about their child have been addressed by the respective class teachers.
Academy for Teacher Excellence
This month was a mix of work and play for the trainees at the Academy for Teacher Excellence. They participated in the Diwali celebrations
with children of our special school. It was a delight to see the trainees with the children, helping them in lighting the fireworks and enjoying
along with them.
On the work front, trainees worked on compiling data obtained from the assessment and observation of their respective case-study students.
They were able to visit three schools during the month; namely one special school for children with physical impairment and two mainstream
schools with an 'inclusive' set-up. Observation of the classroom activities provided a good insight to the trainees about the various kinds
of teaching learning methods used by the different schools.
Lectures on 'Classroom Management' commenced this month and were interactive in nature, with trainees giving inputs about their observations
and discussing the different management strategies.
Early Intervention Unit
New children were inducted into the Early Intervention program after carrying out their assessment and designing a suitable program for
them. We have also spoken to their respective parents and explained the plan to them.
Preparations are going on in full swing to celebrate the annual event of the EI Unit, Children's Day, on December 4th. The event is being
held at the YMCA Youth Hostel in Adyar, Chennai. The theme for the event is "Let's enjoy rain and rainbow" and all the children and therapists alike
are excited with the show.
Our counselors have begun meeting some of our parents and this has been well received. This month too, a few parents were counseled by the
department.
Training on functional skills was the main focus during the month, with emphasis on toileting and independence in eating. All our work was
hence geared to ensure tangible improvement on these counts.
We propose to organize a talk by a Dentist on oral hygiene and care.
Bridges Learning Academy
Sarah Iyer from the V-Excel team and Olivia Roehrig, a volunteer from Germany, have joined the BLA staff to work with the children. They
have been introduced to the children and will be helping them with remedial teaching as well as content learning.
Recognizing the fact that the children of this Unit have to get a good balance of academics and free play, we took all the children to an
outside playground. They really had a good time with their classmates, away from all the worry of studies.
A parent-teacher meeting was organized and conducted in the first week of November. Every child was reviewed on various aspects of development
and notes exchanged between the parents and teachers on the best way ahead.
As a part of the celebrations for Children's Day on 14th November, we took all the students out for lunch. This is one of the rare occasions
when children get to go on an outing with their friends and they sure made the most of it!
V-Excel Remedial Centre
The programs planned for each student were executed as usual by their regular remedial teachers. What we did additionally was allowing
observations and hands-on experience, under our supervision, to the trainees doing a certificate course on Learning Disability.
We had an intense in-service training program where we spoke about the three-fold nature of human beings - thinking, feeling and willing -
and how crucial it is for all the three to be in sync. We played a game first, followed by a lecture by John delivered. He then connected the
play to the three-fold process and explained how focusing on each of the folds affects children with special needs in different ways. He elaborated
on how this important information can be used for betterment of children.
Diwali was the beautiful festival that brought colors to this month. Our students made clay diyas (lamps) which they themselves painted as a
part of celebrating the festival. They truly enjoyed this assignment! V-Excel had organized a fun evening that saw bright fireworks and lit faces
of the students who came to the school premises to celebrate Diwali along with all their friends and teachers.
Rural Outreach Program
This month, parent training programs were given a boost across all the blocks of Villipuram district in Tamil Nadu. We are happy that V-Excel
was the pivotal organization that helped design the Parent Training Module, as suggested under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan project. Through a
'Train the Trainer' system of dissemination, this program was reached to about 40 Special Educators from different disability organizations
working in Tamil Nadu. These teachers were then to train their respective group of teachers, who in turn would ensure delivery to parents in
their corresponding blocks.
As regards the regular rural work carried out by V-Excel, the appliance distribution process is on, based on the requirements that had emerged
from our earlier medical camps. This includes items such as wheelchairs, calipers, spectacles, and hearing aids.
Vocational Training Unit
Diwali was celebrated at our Center on 3rd November. All staff members from Vocational and Early Intervention, students from the Vocational
Unit, a few representatives from Mandaveli and parents participated and had lunch together. VTU trainees also joined others for bursting
crackers and enjoying fireworks in the evening at Mandaveli.
"SAMARTH", a new initiative to sale VTU products, has been launched. We have started off with baking as an activity of focus. Trainees are
being oriented to the baking process which is completely new to them, and seem to be really enjoying the learning.
Three trainees, with one teacher, go everyday to Ms. Margaret's house for two hours to do bead work under her supervision. It is indeed
commendable that she has extended her services, despite her inability to move out of the house. We sincerely appreciate her commitment and look
forward to her joining us back before the next year begins.
The psychology counseling facility to the trainees and their families has been augmented to every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. With
the psychologists around on three days, we hope to derive maximum benefits for all our children and their families.
VTU senior staff has visited residences of two trainees to interact, share & discuss and about the change observed in the behavior of
trainees. A marked improvement is visible.
Additional two volunteers have joined, a young lady from Germany and other an Engineer from Chennai. These Volunteers, along with our trainees,
have undertaken computerization and e-enabling at VTU to streamline all documents and processes.
Unit head and Coordinator of VTU, and Ms. Jayanthi visited 'Nav Jyoti', a vocational center at Ambatur, Chennai. Nav Jyoti has been conducting
three-year training program for students on assembly line work for the last 40 years. They get commercial orders from the Automobile Industry.
Feasibility of a similar model in VTU is under evaluation.
Counseling and Assessment Unit
We started this month with Diwali celebrations. Children from different service units of V-Excel painted diyas with our counselors! In VTU,
the children presented a skit partly developed by one of our consultants.
This month we saw increased referrals from Early Intervention unit for parental counseling. We are also planning on starting a support group
for EI parents.
Our work with our existing corporate clients is expanding. One of our counselors, along with our Occupational Therapy Head, conducted workshop
on classroom activities for a school in Chennai. The workshop was highly appreciated.
Our work with the other units in terms of individual and group play therapy, curriculum development and parental counseling continues. We have
seen how close working of various professionals in regards with the children helps children immensely. Parents are now less resistant to take help
from counseling department.
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
