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.

Activities of 2008

PHOTO : The Awareness programme at Scholar's Home, attended by Students of the Senior School. The Film "A .for Autism..." was also shown.
An Awareness program was held at the Institute of Educational Leadership, in Nimbuwala, Dehra Dun. It was well attended by the 1st & 2nd year students of Mass Communications, Faculty & the Director, Mr Manish Mumgai, was also present. The film “A for Autism… M for Mouse was screened & questions were asked after the presentation. The students & Director were very motivated & promised further help to the cause. This was followed by the Rally held on the 2nd of April,’08.

WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY’ ‘08

It was the 2nd of April, 08. Gandhi Park in the heart of Dehra Dun, was all colourfully decorated, and the song “Taree Zameen Pe” was playing, for all the stars of this day’s show- the special children of some of the special schools of Dehra Dun, and the young men & children with Autism from Inspiration Centre. Yes, it was the WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY! The U.N. General Assembly has 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 has taken on epidemic proportions, due to environmental & other triggers, and cannot be ignored by the government & society at large. So all concerned, in all parts of the world had taken on the duty of spreading awareness by holding rallies & meetings in their own states & cities, on this day. As INSPIRATION has been focusing on this condition from the very beginning, we had decided to invite all special & regular schools & institutes to join in this Awareness Rally, on the 2nd of April, at Gandhi Park, at 9am, so that more is known about the condition, which could help in tackling this at an early stage.

PHOTO : The rally was attended by students & staff of the Institute for Educational Leadership, as well as students & and parents of special children.

PHOTO : View of the rally with the Clock Tower at the background
The Disability Commissioner, Mrs. Snehlata Agarwal, flagged off the Rally, along with Dr. A.K.Srivastava, The Principal, DAV Intercollege. The Director of Institute for Educational Leadership, Mr Manish Mumgai was present with all the staff members & students to show their solidarity for the cause of the Autistic Children. Students & staff of special schools, The Ngoenga Tibetan Special School, & Bajaj Institute of Learning were well represented by the staff & students. The rally started at 10 am from the Gandhi Park & along Rajpur Road, through Parade ground, Ashley Hall & back to Gandhi Park. During the walk, lot of information was given about autism, in Hindi & English. The students sang songs, and it was a big surprise to all, that the students with autism, were able to participate in the March, without any trouble, well aided by their buddies from the Institute of Educational Leadership The Rally was led by The President & the Vice-President of Inspiration, which is now a Parents’ Association. A short Cultural Program was put up, and refreshments were distributed to all present. All the major local dailies covered the program in their respective papers. The Disability Commissioner, also the Additional Commissioner of Social Welfare Department, has promised to extend full support for the cause of Autism Awareness in the State of Uttarakhand.

SUMMER CAMP ‘08

A SUMMER CAMP was held at the Inspiration Centre in Dehra Dun, where students came from Delhi, Allahabad, Nainital & Haldwani. Four children –age ranging from 4-13 years benefited from The INSPIRED MOTHER’S TRAINING, where they came to stay from 15 days /1 month for round the clock training. The mothers went back happy & empowered to cope with the life skills & behaviour problems of the children.

AUTISM/IT WORKSHOP’08

An ‘Autism-IT Workshop’ was organized by Inspiration and The Anil Karanjai Memorial Trust. The inauguration took place at the Institute for Educational Leadership, Nimbuwala (Kaulagarh), Dehra Dun, on Monday, 9th June, 2008. The Chief Guests were The Director of IEL, Mr. Manish Mamgain, and the Guest of Honour was the Principal of the DAV Intercollege, Dr A.K.Srivastava. The workshop was held from 9th -14th June, at the IEL.The participants were autistic children from Delhi & Dehra Dun. It was conducted by Mr. Richard Banbury, Director, RAB Info, Dehra Dun, in collaboration with Dr. Arun Mehta, the well known computer scientist from New Delhi. This workshop was a part of the Summer Camp being organized by Inspiration, for the whole of June’08. PHOTO : Students at the workshop in the Institute for Educational Leadership

This is a follow on to the path-breaking experimental workshop, held in May, 2006 under the auspices of the Information Technology Development Agency, Dehra Dun. As a result of it, we all gained many insights into the ways that IT may help the autistic to communicate, as well as into the difficulties they face in working with computers. These insights were applied at the present workshop. It may be recalled that Arun Mehta has considerable experience in IT and disabilities. He entered this field when he was commissioned to upgrade the voice synthesizer of the world renowned physicist, Professor Stephen Hawking. He has since worked extensively with visually impaired students and children with cerebral palsy. Moreover, since the 2006 workshop, he has been developing software for children with cerebral palsy and autism. This software was tried out at the present workshop.

AWARENESS GENERATION IN INSTITUTES IN DEHRA DUN & NAINITAL

As a regular part of training ,Inspiration has had the three –pronged approach—Training of ParentsTraining of teachers/students in schoolsTraining of society, in general .The Director has now started targeting the renowned residential schools in Nainital. She was given the offer to do sensitization programmes in 4 schools there, Longview Public School, St. Mary’s Convent, The Holy Angels, St John’s School PHOTO : The Director answers queries of the parents at St. John's School in Nainital.

She also did a sensitization programme with the Teachers of Army School, Birpur, Dehra Dun. She spoke to teachers groups & students separately, on 22nd / 23rd of July’08. In one school she was invited to speak to parents also. All these schools found the talk highly beneficial, and have asked to have more such programs in future. She will be showing the film ‘A.. For Autism, M… for Mouse in the next phase of programmes. She was invited by the District Magistrate to train the grass root level workers of the ICDS scheme of the Govt. PHOTO : The Anganwari workers of the ICDS in Haldwani being trained by Director.

This will be followed by a free Training Programme for parents in Nainital , supported by the Chairperson of the Municipality, at the end of September ’08.

Activities of 2007

On 4th March 07,the students of the Centre participated in the neighbourhood Holi Mela. They were invited to join in the dance & merriment. They also had breakfast & lunch with the members of the society of Judges’ Colony, Balbir Road. Inspiration has been working on the advocacy in schools & institutions here. We have been constantly writing to various schools.On the 13th of May’07, Mrs. Singh conducted an awareness program at Scholars’ Home on Rajpur Road, Dehra Dun. On 29th & 30th of May, Inspiration convened the North-West Regional Convention for Parivaar. Inspiration has been an active member of Parivaar- National Federation of Parents’ Associations in India. Parent’s Associations from 5 states in the north-west participated in this consultative convention. PHOTO : The members of the Parent Associations of 5 States of the North-West.


PHOTO : The Inaugural Ceremony at The Welham Boy's School, Chief Guest- DIG Police, Smt Kanchan Chaudhury Bhattacharya, with the President of PARIVAAR, Mr J.P.Gadkari of Bangalore & the Principals of the Welham Boys & Welham Girls.

On the 26th of Sept’07 Mrs. Singh was awarded the National Trust Annual Awards ’07 as the Best Parent of a Person with Disability .This was for “outstanding achievements made and excellent standards set” in the field of Intellectual Disability. A 3-day Training program sponsored by the National Trust was conducted by Mrs. Singh, on 4-6thof Oct’07 at St Marks’ Girls’ School at Paschim Vihar, New Delhi. This was attended by about 30 teachers from 12 different schools of the west Delhi district. The next program for about 150 teachers was held in Mount Carmel School, Dwarka. PHOTO : The first Training programme at St. Marks' School in Delhi.

Activities of 2006

Cases of Autism have risen to a large extent. There are few institutes who cater to this category. These children/persons have very challenging behaviour, due to the lack of communication, and sensory issues. To make things more complicated, their diagnosis has been very difficult as it is a spectrum disorder, ranging from near normal to profound cases. So the early identification and intervention is a very important factor, which could bring a drastic change in the lives of these children. Inspiration Centre in Delhi has a special wing which caters to this category, while they are integrated with the rest of the other children. This has helped in the positive role modelling, and a number of cases are now integrated in the main schools. This has been possible as we have a team of multi-disciplinary staff, who work in tandem, to develop the IEP (Individual Educational Plan) of all the children. The most important factor which has led to our success is “the involvement of families—parents/siblings.” Along with services for special children, Inspiration has also been working with children in regular schools with minor difficulties. Several Activities were undertaken by the organisation as follows:-

Our students participated in the State Level Special Olympics, hosted by Welham Girls’ School in Nov ‘05.Two of them won several awards & medals.

Awareness programmes have always been the special thrust area, and one such programme was held on the 17th of March’06 at Welham Boys’ School, Dalanwala.

Two of our students participated in the Drawing Competition held at The Governor’s Residence, where one of them won a prize.

A Summer Camp was organised for the training of parents in May-June’06. 16 families were able to get the benefit of these hands-on training, along with their wards. Parents came from Maharastra, Delhi & Lucknow., & Haridwar.

Another Awareness Programme was held in May’06 at Rotary Club, Dehra Dun. This was attended by several prominent persons in Dehra Dun. These have helped to increase the awareness about intellectual disabilities, especially autism, of which very little is known, at present.

A unique Autism / IT Workshop was held in the last week of May’06 .A detailed report follows.

In August 06, the President was invited to address a PTM at a well-known Playschool in Dalanwala.

Students from Welham Girls’ School and Welham Boys’ School regularly come to interact with the children. They spent Raksha Bandhan with our students.

In the last week of Sept’06, Inspiration was invited to put up a stall for Diwali, at the PTM of Hope Town School, Selaqui.

Students from our Centre have participated in the On –The –Spot Painting Competition organised by Ramakrishna Mission ,Dehra Dun, in Oct ‘06 , and were awarded special prizes.

From the 4th-17th Oct’06, Microsoft IT Academy helped in the training of Special Educators & resource teachers of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, of the Education Dept, Govt of Uttaranchal. This was initiated by Inspiration, & supported by the Social Welfare Dept.On the 7th of Oct’06, there was the Premiere of the Film-“A for Autism…. M for Mouse”- a film made by The Anil Karanjai Trust. This is based on the Autism /IT workshop held in May. This was sponsored by the ITDA of the Uttaranchal Govt. The Premiere was jointly organised by The Anil Karanjai Trust & Inspiration.

On the 25th of Oct’06, a 1-day workshop was held at Hotel Ambassador, to train teachers & parents in the Waldorf School of Education, & Biomedical Interventions in the management of ADHD/ADD & Autism. This was conducted by Dr. Lakshmi Prasanna from Hyderabad, & Micheal Kokinos of Australia.On the 7th of Nov’06, the president was invited to Uttarkashi, as a resource person, to address the Anganvadi workers, at a camp organised by the Social Welfare Dept. of the U.A Govt.On the 11th of Nov’06, the film ‘A for Autism… M for Mouse” was shown to 500 odd students of Welham Girls’ School, as Awareness Drive. The President also conducted a Question & Answer session, following the screening. The program was highly appreciated by all present. This film is also to be screened in different schools.

The Students of the Centre have gone on trips to Mussouri, Uttaranchal Mela, & other nearby places.

Inspiration regularly involves the participation of the Society in general. We have had officers of ICICI bank helping as volunteers.

The State Bank of India, Saharanpur Branch, has donated folding beds for the students of the Centre, in Dec’06Along with services for special children, Inspiration has been working with children in regular schools with minor difficulties.

A 6-day Fun Winter was held in the Library Hall of the famous DAV Inter- College, Karanpur. 20 students from Dehra Dun & Delhi attended the camp. ( Detailed Report follows)

On 18-19th Feb’07, a two day hands –on training Work-shop was held to train the staff & parents in Cranio-Sacral Balancing , to improve the quality of life of the children. This was conducted by Cameron Walker from Sydney, Australia, a dynamic Therapist, who was here for the workshop.

UNIQUE AUTISM/IT WORKSHOP HELD IN DEHRA DUN May ‘06

Autism is on the rise all over the world. It has been attributed to environmental factors, as well as a genetic predisposition. It is characterised by the inability of the child/person to communicate effectively, leading to a deep sense of rejection and deprivation. This has been well portrayed in Krishna Narayana’s “Wasted Talent” – Musings of an Autistic.The use of computers could be a means to channalise this frustration. Keeping this in mind, “Inspiration” agreed to collaborate with The Anil Karanjai Memorial Trust to conduct a 7-day workshop from 22-27th May’06. It was held at the Information Technology Development Agency office at Vasant Vihar, Dehra Dun. It was conducted by Dr. Arun Mehta, a well-known computer scientist, who has been working with other disabilities, particularly with visually & orthopaedically handicapped.During these 6 days, Dr. Mehta modified a few softwares to suit the needs of this group. The whole proceedings were filmed as a movie by Juliet Reynolds, Trustee, The Anil Karanjai Memorial Trust.This workshop was sponsored by the IT Dept. Uttaranchal Govt. and supported by the Social Welfare Dept. The Secretaries of both these departments visited the workshop and highly appreciated the efforts. The film-“A for Autism …M for Mouse” is complete & was released at a premiere.

PHOTO : The Film Premiere of the "A.. for Autism.. M.. For Mouse"at Madhuban Hotel. The founder Trustee of the Anil Karanjai Memorial Trust, Juliet Reynolds, also the director of the film, speaking to people.

The Microsoft Company has done a free training of Special Educators of Inspiration &Uttaranchal State in early October. All these have been due to the pioneering efforts of the organisation. There is also a team of highly trained professionals on the Panel of Advisors.
FUN WINTER CAMP, DEC’06

A Fun Winter Camp was organised by the Inspiration Centre, Dehra Dun, to utilise the holidays in a productive manner. To promote the concept of independent living, the topics were carefully chosen to facilitate positive learning of skills which would enhance the independent skills of the special young adults.The inauguration was held on the 24th of Dec’06. The Minister for Technical Education & Transport, Sri Hira Singh Bisht was the Chief Guest for the occasion. The Principal of DAV Inter College, Dr. A.K.Srivastava, was the Guest of Honour. The students of Inspiration Centre presented a short cultural program on the occasion.The Speech Therapist, Mr. Dushyant Kushwaha, Occupational Therapist, Dr Ajay Kumar, also a lecturer in the DIRD, as well as vocational trainer, Mr Arveend Budh Singh, had come from Delhi to do the assessments for the special children in Dehra Dun. Twenty Students were registered over these 6 days.The next day, being Christmas, was celebrated with making of the Christmas tree & Santa Claus. Some of the children dressed up as Santa & entertained the participants. A Christmas Party was held in the Evening.The next 3 days was utilised in teaching & learning the different forms of food for a balanced diet, as well as the winter season.Health & hygiene was also taught to them ,as an important part of self help. All the work done by the students, were then put up for display.On the 5th day, the students were taken to the Buddha Temple in Clementown.The Closing Ceremony was held on the 30th of December. The Chief Guest was the Commissioner for Disabilities, Smt. Snehlata Agarwal. She praised the work showcased over the last few days. She also encouraged the parents to form parent associations, to work for the welfare of the special children. A number of students sang & put up a cultural show. Students from Welham Girls’ School helped as facilitators for the whole Camp.
PHOTO : The Commissioner of Disabilities, Smt Snehlata Agarwal, seen here with the special participants from Dehra Dun & Delhi.

PHOTO : Children enjoy a Song & Dance activity as recreation.