Teaching – learning process is a multidimensional activity. It is not limited to classroom teaching. Teacher has to facilitate the students with multiple activities and exposure to varied environments. The pedagogy principles primarily emphasis on understanding the child. This enables the teacher to reach the receivers level. Al most all...

From a parents point of view managing autism means managing to handle its devastating effects on the children from childhood to adulthood maintaining hope throughout the journey. As no cure has been found for autism the parents have to struggle extremely hard to deal with the quixotic nature of this...

Lalita Ramanujan Director Alfa to Omega Learning Centre Chennai Introduction Ability to form and maintain friendship according to the norms of one’s peer group reflects the level of social competence of any student. Schooling does not mean learning from books, the child learns to perform life tasks, adapt to different...

Mythily Chari M.Ed., Ed. S (Special Education) Director IRIS Introduction Early detection, intervention and integration of toddlers with autism/Asperger’s syndrome have been the primary focus of IRIS. For the past two years we have been integrating children with autism in regular play schools where children without special needs attend. The...

Autism is a word coined simultaneously by Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger, who were both trained inVienna. However it is Kanner who is credited with the disorder which describes children with self absorbtion, and aloofness manifesting severe behavioural social and communication problems. Prevalence is 4.5 out of every 10,000, male...

1. Autism – My first experience Let me introduce myself as the proud mother of Niranjan, now 15 years old, who has overcome most of his initial disabilities and features of autism. I also happen to be a Chartered Accountant with Legal qualification and Gold Medals in the Legal course...

I have been totally involved in bringing up my only son. The problems started when he attended school, he being a very mild natured boy, his class mates could make him do anything and he got into trouble. He could not copy from the blackboard. He could read and write...

Introduction Our second son was born after a long gap and many prayers. Often I am asked to narrate how it all began, it takes a while to go back to a decade to pick out any indication that I might have had to his present condition; apart from an...

Mythily Chari M.Ed., Ed.S (Special Education) Director IRIS Introduction Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA 1996) USCmandates that related services are provided by the Local Educational Agency (LEA) for children with special needs. Children with autism and Asperger’s Syndrome lack Social Skills and this deficit seriously undermines efforts at Inclusion....

Vignesh is 5.6 years old, in some aspects he behaves like any other five year old, but at other times he behaves like a two year old. He is a cheerful, funloving cute kid, who welcomes everyone with a warm smile. He does not hurt anyone, and is liked by...

My three-year-old son Nikhil and I were doing his homework. The assignment was to join two dots with a straight line using a pencil. He couldn’t do it. That day we clung to each other and cried in frustration and anger. He was a low birth weight baby 1.5-kg at...

Sulatha Ajit Special Educator Sankalp Learning Centre Email:sulu_a@hotmail.com Autism is a condition, not a disease. Individuals with autism continue to need care through out their lives, at the same time. Many can be trained to perform meaningful work and participate in community life. There is help and hope. Gone are...

by Nivedita Sengupta (Courtesy Shri Sahyog – newsletter of Parent Support Group, The Shri Ram School, New Delhi) “She will never be normal like you and me!” Her clinical psychologist concluded after a four-day assessment. This seemed the end of our world then but it was really the beginning of...

Blue Cross of India was founded in 1964. It is the largest animal welfare organization in India with five animal shelters, hospitals, out-patient clinics and ambulance services in Chennai, Kanchipuram and Thiruvallur Districts of Tamilnadu. Blue Cross introduced ABC (Animal Birth Control) for street dogs in 1964 – the world’s...

Sulata Ajit Director – Special Education Sankalp – The Learning Centre Annanagar West, Chennai India Children with autism perceive the world very differently and hence their learning and working styles are different. They have an innate ability to learn if taught in his/ her own learning style. Most of them...

Techniques for Practitioners Mythily Chari, Director, IRIS Introduction Perhaps no other disorder has been as misunderstood and mismanaged as autism. While we now have substantial data on the possible causative factors and the treatment for this disorder, the educational community has not made many breakthroughs by way of strategies for...

– from ‘The Hindu, February 21, 2004’ The IRIS and Sankalp recently coordinated Sahaja workshop in Chennai aimed to address and understand better the needs of the normal child who has a special-needs sibling. Targeted at those aged eight and above, this was an opportunity to learn, share experiences and...

– from ‘The Hindu, December 1, 2003’ PARENTS OF special children experience concerns and issues that are uniquely theirs. So do their brothers and sisters, who’ll most likely be involved in the life of the special child, much longer than anyone else (including the parents). And there is a growing...

Dr. N.P. Karthikeyen – Otorhinolaryngologist, is involved in bio-technological analysis of herbs and compounds of ancient Indian medicine, to identify useful molecules for immunology, oncology and neurology. Encouraged by a decade of in-depth study, he established DOAST centre to conceptualize “Integrated Therapy”. With the knowledge gained from mainstream medicine, his...