World Autism Awareness Day Rally

World Autism Awareness Day Rally

The U.N. General Assembly had declared the 2nd of April each year as the World Autism Awareness day, on the 18th of Dec’07. It is now common knowledge that autism- a developmental disorder- has taken on epidemic proportions, due to environmental & other triggers, and cannot be ignored by the government & society at large. It is the second most prevalent serious developmental disorder in the world, according to the Centre for Disease Control & Prevention, USA. So all concerned, in all parts of the world have taken on the duty of spreading awareness about this condition, by holding rallies & meetings in their own states & cities, on this day. Early identification & early intervention are the only ways to control this as there is no cure for this condition, till date.
This year the Ministry of Social Welfare took on the responsibility to hold this rally together with Inspiration, a non-profit organization which has been hosting this rally for the last 4 years. INSPIRATION has been focusing on this condition from the very beginning, hence this rally, so that more is known about the condition, which could help in tackling this at an early stage. It was assisted by the Institute of Educational Leadership, Nimbuwala. The Rally was flagged off by the Hon’ble Minister for Social Welfare, Uttarakhand, Sri Matbar Singh Kandari. The Hon’ble State Minister for Social Welfare, Sri Khazan Das was the Special Guest for the occasion. The programme was presided over by The Hon’ble MLA for Rajpur, Sri Ganesh Joshi. There was a short cultural programme by students of IEL, Nimbuwala & Inspiration.
About 300 students from several special schools & regular students from various institutes in Dehra Dun & Roorkee participated in the rally, as volunteers. The special Schools are : Raphael International Centre, Cheshire Home, Bajaj Institute of Learning, Sharp Memorial , & the newly formed Ehsaas Foundation and Matri Chaya. The institutes to participate were IEL, Institute for Technology & Management, Hermes College, Roorkee, SGRR PG College, Pestle weed to name a few. The enthusiasm of the college students was really worth mentioning, which showed the sensitivity for the cause has increased over the years due to such efforts. The rally started from Gandhi Park, moved towards the Clock Tower, turned in towards Darshanlal Chowk, round the Gandhi Park, along the parade ground & came out onto Ashley Hall, and ended back in Gandhi Park. Material on Autism and its symptoms, as also the possible preventive measures, and interventions was disseminated. (The photos follow soon!)
At another function orgabnised for the event Mrs. Singh spoke about the problems of the persons with Autism, their management & various therapies used.

Awareness Programme in Haldwani

On 19 December 2009 a Parent Training-cum-Awareness programme sponsored by Christofer Blinden Mission, was held in Haldwani. Pre-programmes were held over a period of 6 months before this to identify families with special needs children/adults. The programme was held in the Forest Training Institute in Haldwani. The officers of the Institutetook keen interest in the programme and created a lot of interest among the people. Extensively coverd by all local newspapers, the programme was attended by 50 participants - parents and Anganwari workers. It was inaugurated by Mr. Sanjeev Arya, a dynamic and young leader of the Mandi Samiti. Mrs. Pushpa Arya, a well-known social worker chaired the event. Mrs. Singh spoke on the importance of parents getting together to work for the training and rehabilitation of the intellectually disabled in this part of the country as there are practically no services in the hills. The well-known paediatrician Dr Ajay Panday who was the Guest Speaker spoke about the importanceof identifying the symptoms of intellectual disabilities early. Some snapshots follow!

World Disability Day 2009

On 3 December 2009 we celebrated the World Disability Day in Delhi by organizing a Free Parents' Training Programme. The chief guest was the local MLA Shri O.P. Babbar, a well-known philanthropist and social worker. The programme was attended by about 50 parents and special educators / social workers. Mrs. Singh spoke about the Supported Decision Making Pilot Project of the United Nations that she is conducting in Dehra Dun. It is a one year project being jointly conducted by Inclusion International, PARIVAAR- National Confederation of Parents' Associations and is supported by the NAtional Trust. Mrs Singh is the Coordinator of the Project which has selected 15 families to see how the Supported Network could be developed over a year. We will be back with more information on Supported Decision Making. For now we have the pictures of the Parents' Training Programme organized on World Disability Day.