Reports on Inclusive Opportunity for Children with Disability

Project Report | Jul 15, 2026
Child Development Unit (CDU) - Salaam Baalak Trust

By Tejaswani | Mental Health Counselor

Aasra Home for Boys

Established in 2018, the Child Development Unit (CDU) at Aasra Home for Boys was created when the Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT) recognized that several rescued children had unique, specialized needs that differed significantly from those of neurotypical children. Driven by a deep commitment to care for every child, SBT established this dedicated space to ensure children with diverse abilities are never left behind.

The CDU provides round-the-clock (24/7) care, which includes continuous supervision, tailored nutrition, and comprehensive medical support. Caregivers attend to the children's daily hygiene, toilet training, and timely clothing changes, all while maintaining a pristine, healthy environment. Beyond basic care, the unit focuses on teaching children essential activities of daily living (ADLs) to foster personal independence and self-care. Specialized meals are also carefully curated and served according to each child's specific dietary and medical requirements.

The unit supports children facing a wide range of physical, intellectual, and neurodivergent challenges. These include, but are not limited to:

Locomotor disabilities and Cerebral Palsy
Speech, hearing, and visual impairments
Muscular dystrophy
Mild, moderate, and severe intellectual deficits
Autism, ADHD, and Down Syndrome

To address these diverse needs, the CDU team is led by an Unit In-Charge who oversees daily operations. The multidisciplinary team consists of dedicated caregivers, medical workers, a special educator, and a counselor who collaborate closely to guide the children’s cognitive development, emotional well-being, and life skills.

Upon a child's admission, the team conducts detailed observations alongside neurological and psychosocial assessments to map out a personalized intervention plan. These plans address foundational behaviors—such as recognizing hunger levels and eating independently—as well as self-care routines. Because medical conditions like seizures are common among the children, round-the-clock medical monitoring and regular hospital follow-ups are strictly maintained. Additionally, children are enrolled in specialized schools to further enrich their growth. Above all, the CDU enforces strict, vigilant supervision to guarantee that every child is protected from any form of harm or exploitation.

Ultimately, the Child Development Unit offers a safe, nurturing sanctuary where children with special needs can grow at their own pace, receive specialized care, and build the skills necessary to achieve independence and live a life of dignity.

A Journey of Progress: Child R’s Story

Child R arrived at our center a year ago in a highly critical state. Found abandoned near a metro pillar by the police, he was physically frail, malnourished, and bore faint injury marks on his body—painful remnants of past trauma. No family came forward to claim him, and so he found a safe haven at Aasra.

R was born with severe, permanent physical and developmental challenges. He has developmental delays and a deformed rib cage. Both of his legs have double joints, making it impossible for him to stand or walk independently. When he first arrived, he was entirely non-verbal, communicating his fear and distress only through constant screaming and crying.

Our team immediately conducted a comprehensive medical assessment. We initiated physiotherapy to help manage his bone deformities and placed him on targeted medication to control his frequent seizures.

The initial transition was incredibly difficult. Traumatized and in pain, R could not tolerate being touched. Providing essential care—like changing his clothes, assisting with hygiene, spoon-feeding, and toilet training—was an immense challenge for our caregivers, as any interaction triggered intense screaming.

Understanding his deep-seated fear, our caregivers focused entirely on building trust. Through consistent, gentle presence, R gradually began to recognize the faces around him. This newfound stability allowed him to form secure emotional attachments. As we bonded with him, we began to understand his unique language: his cries and screams were no longer constant, but were specific signals indicating hunger, pain, or distress.

Once R felt safe, he began to settle beautifully into his new home. His cries gradually subsided, replaced by laughter. He formed warm bonds not just with the staff, but with the other children as well.

Another major breakthrough involved his relationship with food. Initially, R did not recognize his own satiety (fullness) levels and would overeat to the point of discomfort. By introducing a structured, nutritious diet plan, we helped him adapt to a healthy, predictable eating routine.

Emotionally, R has blossomed. He now openly expresses joy and frustration. While he initially pulled away from contact, he learned to hold hands during his very first positive interaction. Today, shaking hands has become his favorite daily greeting.

To expand his world, caregivers helped him sit in specialized chairs, and the other children joyfully helped carry him outside. This exposure to new sights, sounds, movements, and friendly faces has dramatically widened his social horizon.

Over the course of just one year, R has achieved remarkable milestones. He has shown significant improvement in his physical health, built deep emotional attachments, and gained far greater control over his expressions. His journey is a powerful testament to what consistent, loving, and specialized care can achieve.

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Mar 23, 2026
Child Development Unit at Salaam Baalak Trust

By Tanweer Zaki | Mental Health Program Coordinator

Introduction

Salaam Baalak Trust (SBT) has been working to protect the rights of children living in difficult circumstances for more than 37 years. Placing the child’s interest first, SBT strives to provide a package of all-inclusive services to children rescued from streets. These services comprise safe shelter, health, education, nutrition and vocational training. A critical component of SBT’s package of services is its mental health programme. The programme was launched in the year 2003 with the primary objective of helping rescued children overcome their traumatic past and enable them live freely and happily in their present.

Easier said than done, enabling children living in difficult circumstances to get over the abuse, exploitation and trauma they face is challenging. It requires patience, perseverance, sensitivity and specialized skills to engage with children and help them express their suppressed negative emotions and experience. To this end, the Trust has constituted a qualified and highly skilled mental health team under the leadership of Dr. Amit Sen (one of the leading psychiatrists in India). The mental health team comprises a team of counsellors and a mental health coordinator. A counselor is posted at every centre of SBT to provide mental health services to children viz., counseling and individual and group therapies. SBT’s mental health programme is recognised as one of its kind given its child-centric nature and focus on professional and trained care. Over a period of time, the programme has evolved to improve both its reach and quality of services.

In the year 2015, the programme started a child development unit (CDU) to cater to the needs of children with neuro-developmental difficulties at the DMRC Home for Boys in Tis Hazari. The CDU was shifted in February 2018 and is now based at Aasra Children’s Home located in Najafgarh, Delhi. It adopts an integrative approach whereby the children (boys) with neurodevelopmental difficulties and in need of additional support are provided shelter along with care and protection services.

Vision of CDU

CDU’s vision is to provide children with neuro-developmental difficulties a safe, nurturing environment. It also aims to protect these children from abuse and ensure early screening of their difficulties and provide timely intervention. CDU attempts to provide 24x7 special care and emotional support to these children. CDU operates on the ‘principle of inclusion’ wherein children with mental disabilities live with typically developing children (those meeting age-appropriate development milestones) to foster peer interaction and learning. The key objectives of CDU are as follows.

To mainstream children with neuro-developmental difficulties and disorders by provision of inclusive services in Aasra Children’s Home.
To enable these children, learn basic activities of daily living (ADL) and communication skills to express and deal with their individual needs.

Operation and Processes

CDU Team: CDU is run through a skilled team comprising a developmental therapist, a supervisor and three care takers. The supervisor oversees the administrative work, while the therapist conducts therapeutic sessions with the children and the care takers provide food and nutrition, health and therapeutic services to children. The caretakers are trained at regular intervals to improve their work performance and efficiency.

Admission and assessment of children: All children coming to Aasra Children’s Home are screened using a baseline assessment interview at the first point of contact and if mental health concerns are observed then a more comprehensive assessment is conducted. This assessment is carefully done by the counselor. Following this, a focused discussion is conducted with the senior consultant Dr. Amit Sen to confirm the diagnosis and to ascertain if the child matches the CDU admission criteria. Upon meeting the criteria, the child is admitted to the CDU.

Activities

The key services provided to children at the CDU are as follows:

Therapies: Many children at CDU need different therapies specific to their individual needs, including sensory integration, occupational therapy, speech therapy, developmental therapy, etc. These essential services were provided by Children First, a trusted psychiatric organization and the in-house team who is working with these kids. Efforts were made to enhance the team's skills to provide various therapies. Additionally, our therapists conducted regular therapeutic sessions.

Education: At the Child Development Unit (CDU), we believe in providing inclusive and specialized education for children with diverse needs. Our approach is centered on understanding each child's unique abilities, challenges, and potential for growth. Every child at the CDU receives a personalized Individual Education Plan (IEP) designed to address their specific learning requirements and goals.

Special care and emotional support: Emotional well-being is integral to overall development and learning success. These sessions may focus on building resilience, improving social skills, addressing trauma, fostering positive self-image, and promoting healthy emotional expression. These supports were provided to children by care takers and therapist on a continued basis. Caution is taken to meet children’s emotional needs adequately so that they adjust well in the children’s home. These children are under constant care and supervision.

Pharmacology: Many children who need medicines are provided the same as prescribed by the psychiatrist. Medicines along with the therapies show noticeable improvements in children within a short span of time.

ADL (Activity of daily Living) skills training: This is an important area of intervention with children. The therapist and care takers help children learn ADL skills to make the more self-reliant. While training when children pick up ADL skills, they feel a sense of confidence and independence.

Occupational Therapy: Children are provided occupational therapy at both Children First and Aasra. Occupational therapists worked closely with children to address challenges related to handwriting, motor coordination, sensory sensitivity, self-regulation, and adaptive behavior. Therapy sessions involved sensory integration activities, fine motor exercises, life skills training, and environmental modifications to support best functioning in various settings. The therapy helps them actively participate in activities at children’s home and other social situations.

Speech Therapy: Many children at the CDU experience difficulties with speech, language, or communication skills. Speech therapy sessions were conducted by the qualified speech-therapist who assess each child's communication abilities and developed targeted intervention plans. Through a variety of activities and exercises, speech articulation, language comprehension, social communication, and other related skills were improved. This improves children’s communication skills. Various techniques were used to enhance their communication in a conventional way.

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Dec 4, 2025
When Care Meets Compassion, Lives Are Transformed

By Tanweer Zaki | Mental Health Program Coordinator

When Care Meets Compassion, Lives Are Transformed. This time we will share success story of a child and how his resilience made him overcome his disability.

Ratan's Journey of Transformation

Ratan (name changed) came to SBT's Children’s Care Institution (CCI) in 2020 with a combination of speech, cognitive, and behavioral challenges. Due to speech difficulties, Ratan struggled to communicate details about his background, including information about his family and home life.

Upon arrival at the Children’s Care Institution (CCI), Ratan faced significant behavioral challenges, such as anger, denial, inattention, and a resistance to listening or cooperating with others. His cognitive limitations which were diagnosed as moderate intellectual deficits and his speech clarity issues made communication difficult, this required further support in his daily activities. All these areas combined prevented him from expressing his needs and thoughts, making it even more difficult to connect with others.

Recognizing his unique needs, the caregivers provided him support, including counseling and special education. The goal was to help him better understand his emotions, gradually empowering him to express them more clearly. Over time, these interventions had a profound impact. His emotional regulation improved his anger. These shifts led to behavioural changes as well as he developed more positive social interactions, becoming increasingly cooperative, and showed care for other children with special needs. Ratan's journey continued at the Skill School Foundation, where he received further specialized care, speech therapy, specialized education, and ongoing counseling. These interventions allowed him to build on the progress he had made, focusing not only on managing his behavioral issues but also on developing skills that would be valuable for his future.

At the age of 17, Ratan was enrolled in a vocational training program, to be trained as an assistant caregiver for children with special needs. This role not only allowed him to further develop his caregiving abilities but also gave him a sense of purpose and accomplishment.

As he turned 18, in recognition of his progress and hard work, he was offered a formal placement at the same place as an Assistant Caretaker this year. He was earning a stipend of INR 10,000 along with accommodation and food.

Ratan's story is one of resilience and determination. From a child who struggled with severe behavioral, cognitive, and speech challenges, he has grown into a confident, capable young adult who is not only helping others but is also building a future for himself.

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