Education India Project #8172

Provide therapy to 50 disabled children in India

by Samadhan

Provide therapy to 50 disabled children in India

Project Report | Jun 22, 2015
Enhancing Capacity of Care Givers

By Sumathi Morgan | Consultant SAMADHAN

Workshop in Progress

SAMADHAN is organizing a series of workshops on Creative Movement Therapy as a capacity building measure for its staff in the Dakshinpuri centre, which is a low socio economic area where we have established our very first service centre. Once-a-month session for staff and twice weekly sessions for children are being planned.

However we have already started with our first session conducted in May 2015. The participants were the administrative, project staff and special educators along with professionals took part. Abhay and Jivana , who are students of creative movement were part of these sessions as part of their internship and it was supervised by Sumathi Morgan, certified Creative Movement Facilitator and former Executive Director of SAMADHAN. Sumathi, presently continues as Consultant to Samadhan

The intent of organizing the workshop was to introduce a foundation for identifying and using different forms of creativity for learning, and to expand teaching skills, offer lesson plan ideas and discuss movement practices. The session also provided an opportunity for the participants to fully involve in creative activities/movements that are especially designed for children.

The workshop included several individual, group and partnership activities that help the participants to make effective use of their body movements in their field of work. Fun-filled movement activities including music, props, body awareness exercises, warm ups, guided imagery, story-telling and creative movement activities interspersed with verbal dialogue and sharing left the participants requesting more such workshops. The integration of movement with other disciplines will be included in the workshops and may incorporate the use of hands-on props (stretch bags, elastics, fabric, etc) and introduce a wide variety of music genres.

This new approach to fun filled and creative approach to teaching/learning was much appreciated by all participants. Not many privileged agencies use creative movement therapy and so this was first even for SAMADHAN.

The success of this initiative is apparent from comments by some of the participants. Most of them felt the session helped them to relate with each other better than before. Anju, a Physiotherapist - said she felt relaxed after the session and wants to incorporate some of the activities in her physiotherapy sessions. Activities with props helped them to overcome their inhibitions and gave them confidence to perform the task. It was fun and they look forward to regular sessions. More creative activities can now be incorporated in special education to enhance the social and cognitive skills of children with special needs.

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Mar 23, 2015
A Leap Forward: Using ICT for Inclusive Education

By Janak Kumari Gandhi | Volunteer

Joining a Common Platform

In India participation of children with disabilities (CwD) in formal education environments, so far, is very limited. Most CwD have difficulty in accessing even basic education. In this context, the role that information and communication technologies (ICTs) can play in breaking up traditional access barriers and promoting equal opportunities is increasingly being recognized. The technology revolution has created new learning channels and formats that can enable CwD to access education with ease and effectiveness. Harnessing this power of ICTs to build a strong system of inclusive education in India may ensure that all students, irrespective of their impairment, be in schools and learning.

This can be achieved only when organizations working for CwD are aware about the availability and usage of new technologies and tools. At the same time developers also need to be in touch with these organizations for successful implementation and perfection of the tools.

The need for a common, meaningful platform to bring together the various stakeholders and enable information exchange on the issue prompted SAMADHAN and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) to organize a two-day national workshop on “Using ICT for Inclusive Education in India” on February 23–24, 2015, at India International Centre, New Delhi. United Nations International Children's Education Fund (UNICEF) partnered this workshop, which was a follow-up to the UNICEF mandate for conducting a desk analysis on the use of ICT for inclusive education in India.

The workshop brought together stakeholders from concerned government departments, institutions, NGOs, researchers and academicians, IT engineers, special educators, parents, trainee teachers, and volunteers. It provided the participants, totaling over 80, the opportunity to share information and insights about the various ICT applications and aids for children with cognitive and physical disabilities as well as to share experiences of using innovative teaching-learning methodologies.

Among the speakers, there were persons with special needs who have been using ICT for their benefits. They shared their experinces and empasized the need of using ICT.

The discussions drew on the rich and varied experience of the different stakeholders and presented an opportunity for exploring the diverse range of available ICT tools and solutions. The presentations are available at https://sites.google.com/site/ictforie/.

The workshop, thus, evolved an improved understanding of the various issues, challenges, and opportunities for using ICTs for inclusive education. The biggest achievement of the workshop lay in drawing out the information about available ICTs and practices from different scattered pockets and bringing it together on a common platform to enable learning, ideation, and adoption.

It also brought into sharp focus the need for supportive policy framework; use of universal design in educational materials and environments; research and development (R&D) on new ICT solutions and practices; and training and capacity building of special educators, among others.

Opening Session

Mr. Abraham & Mr. Mitra Shared their Experinces

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Dec 23, 2014
A Workshop - Educating Parents on Cerebral Palsy

By Sumathi Morgan | Consultant SAMADHAN

Spreading Knowledge

Guide to Parents: Cerebral Palsy(CP) Concept and Fundamental Principles in positioning and handling

SAMADHAN periodically conducts workshops for parents on topics related to various intellectual and physical disabilities. A workshop was conducted by SAMADHAN on 31st October 2014to create awareness among parents to understand what is meant by Cerebral palsy, its types and which part of brain gets damaged. The workshop was held to provide details on some of the most frequent positioning and handling used as interventions when working with children Cerebral palsy.

The workshop was facilitated by G. Hema Gowri, Special Education Consultant of SAMADHAN and Dr. Anju, Physiotherapist with SAMADHAN. The session was divided into three parts.

a) Defining Cerebral palsy, causes, its types and role of brain

b) Fundamental principles in positioning and handling and its use

c) Use of adaptive aids and the consequences in using wrong positioning and handling

The workshop started with brief explanation of Cerebral palsy definition, causes and its types. More inputs were given on the affected brain parts in different types of CP. How the affected parts of brain affects child’s muscle control, muscle coordination, muscle tone, reflex, posture and balance; it can also impact a child’s fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and oral motor functioning. It was emphasized that the damage to the brain is permanent but it is non progressive in nature.

Dr Anju explained with examples the:

Fundamental principles in positioning and handling with demonstration
Precautions to avoid deformities in Children with cerebral palsy
The use of positioning and handling and problems in wrong positioning and handling.
Helping the child with their ADLs using Adaptive aids
Problem-solving skills for everyday difficulties that occur

Post evaluation of the workshop shows that the Parents clearly understood that Cerebral Palsy is not contagious. It is neither a sickness nor a disease. The damage to the brain does not get worse, but the effect on the body can result in progressive deformities. Although the damage to the brain cannot be cured, therapy and medical intervention can assist clients to maximise potential and enhance the quality of life.

Link for resources: http://www.cbm.org/article/downloads/54741/Cerebral_Palsy_Toolkit_-_Part_2__Manual__English_.pdf

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