Harshad Pajwe Starts Work

Many parents are disheartened when they have children, physically or mentally challenged. They need extra care, no doubt, but every person can contribute their bit to the society if their energies are directed towards a particular goal.

Harshad Pajwe, 27 years old person with downs syndrome was admitted at Swami Brahmanand Pratishthan, Center for PWID at Belapur in 2005. The main aim at this special school is make the person independent and the training is given accordingly, as per their ability.

It gives great joy to their teachers and family when their students show success, however small/big it may be, at least they try..and if they have somebody who have faith in them, then they can cross many hurdles.

Harshad has started his journey as vegetables vendor with the support of his family members. His shop address is Harshad Traders near Vidya Prasarak high school, shahabaz gaon sec 19  Belapur, NaviMumbai



His brother Dattaray was working in AGS PVT. LTD. His profile was ATM re-consolidation. Due to Covid infection, he suffered health problems therefore he quit his job, and started his own auto rickshaw service. His sister-in-law sells organic sanitary pads. His mother is housewife. 

The family has got together and has opened a shop that will sell onions, potatoes, garlic, coconut and dry coconut, while his SIL will continue her own business from the same venue.. The products are kept outside the shop for easy display for passerby.




 Harshad has severe disability, limited speech and poor money concept, so what can he do???

"He is severe but independent in personal skills. quiet, sincere and a good worker, he can work under supervision. Once learnt he can do simple task." Says Shirish Poojari, the founder of the institution.

Family is happy that they have found a suitable job for him to keep busy. Instead of concentrating on what he cannot do, it is better to concentrate on what he can do.

"He can help open and close the shop, clean the store. He can fill the baskets with onions and other things. He is able to do money transactions but under supervision. He can assist very well." Says Sukanya Venkataraman, Principal of SBP.

As a matter of fact, the family has no experience in selling vegetables but they found this an apt business for Harshad who will come and sit at store with his mother and SIL, he may not have much speech but he understands  the given instructions

while at the vocational unit at school, he took part in many vocational activities such as painting diyas during Diwali season, making paper bags, he is good at drawing and coloring. 

 "He follows instructions very well. Once he perfects a skill, he carries it out to the T. The only problem is that he is slow in his work." Says Sunt Marwah, his class teacher.

And now , as a proud owner of his vegetable shop, he will learn to manage it since his family has full faith in him.

His life is set.

Theatre Workshop At SBP

We are proud to believe that our school is the most sought after school at Navi Mumbai.

And why not?

Our management takes every effort to make the education of special children entertaining and fun. The meetings with the staff are held regularly whereby teachers are guiding in correct teaching methods to be carried out at school.

Every festival and every event is celebrated at school as a hands-on learning experience. On the days when children have public holidays, teachers are expected to report to school. During those days, some workshops or lectures by experience personals are organised at school to enrich the teaching methods of the staff.

This week too, while children were enjoying their Ganesha festivals, teachers attended a “Theatre Workshop” organised at school by dramatist Mr. Shivdas Ghodke on 14^th September from 1pm to 4pm.

“Todays session was good, it was full of practical inputs that help to develop children’s physical mobility and the thinking ability. (cognitive abilities)” said Rupali, the teacher of secondary class. “This session focused on developing students leadership qualities too”

Sixteen teachers took part in this workshop and each one was having a very good time. There was no inhibition in performing any activity at all. They walked with bent knees, they crawled on the floor, they even mimed. Teaching special children can be fun, they need not struggle to write alphabets, memorise long paragraphs or solve difficult problems, learning can be done informally through play and drama and that was all this workshop was about.

“Truly! It was an excellent workshop for teachers. Today’s workshop was fun but indirectly we learnt many things. Through different activities, we can use it for our students development, we can teach them different concepts using very simple material.” Said Grace, the teacher of pre-vocational group. “Through these activities we can develop students imagination, creativity, imitation skills, they can improve their leadership qualities, enhance their confidence level and learn about team work.”

Different aids were used for team activities that need large spaces. Bamboo rods were used to form designs on the floor and to imagine what activity can be performed using the stick. (for example..rods can be used for drying clothes, shooting like rifle or using as stump for playing snookers). Teachers used bamboo sticks to design a star shape. Collectively they lifted it horizontally and child was made to hop on the shape.

Such big bamboo stick needs larger space to perform such activities, although it can be incorporated in dance and drama with background music. But a smaller stick can in used in the classrooms too and some teachers are using it in their lesson plans.

“I give my students ice cream sticks for making shapes and alphabets and let them imagine things like ice cream and other things, but I normally use it on individual level. But today’s stick therapy is good for group activity. We will reduce the size of the stick to make the activity easier in the class level” said Vidya, teacher of  Primary 1.

Luckily there were two children who were also the part of the group. They too participated in many activities and helped us understand how far can we stretch an activity with special children.

Some activities were shown with a rope, 15 meters long and 3 inches thick. It helped us understand the limited force that would be required to form designs with the rope by swinging one end of the rope in different directions.

Charushila found the use of rope in her therapy class as very useful aid. “This exercise is good to channelize energy and also for dissociation of joints.” She said.

Spreading the rope on the floor and making the teachers walk on the rope was a clever idea.

“I liked walking activity. This is helpful for balancing, coordination and muscle strength” said Smita.

Using long ropes in smaller classrooms is impractical but using duppattas, colorful tape or sari fall (as suggested by Grace and Smita Vartak  ) would be more logical.

The session went on till 4:30 but nobody complained of the extended hour. In fact some teachers wanted one more session.

“I would personally request Shirish Tr and Sukanya Tr. to arrange more sessions by Sir  in which he will  give us input on voice modulations, making masks etc. Sir is very experience person who has worked with special children from many years .So his sessions will definitely be helpful for us....” said Vidya teacher of Primary 1 class.

 more pictures of this workshop can be found on our school blog.

Aditi Verma – Entrepreneur With Down Syndrome

The greatest happiness that any teacher feels is when her students achieves success in life. When the student is special with downs syndrome, the happiness is ten fold.

Normally the first reaction that the parents get when they get a special child  with down syndrome is  one of shock and confusion. They feel their world has fallen apart, they are frightened for the future. But after few years, they begin to understand their child and learn that children with down syndrome are really very talented. If trained under special care, they are as capable of leading a normal life as any other normal person, only a little bit slower and may need supervision.

Aditi Verma beat disability and became entrepreneur when her parents gifted her with eatery on new year’s day last year.

On my recent visit to school at CBD, Belapur, I decided to spend one afternoon at Bhoomi Mall at CBD after school hours. Bhoomi mall is still new, with many shops waiting to find its owner, but three floors upstairs is a small eatery called ‘Aditi’s Corner’ that sells chocolates, drinks and snacks and is run by Aditi Verma who has Down Syndrome.

“What will you have?” She asks as soon as we settle on the chair outside the eatery. I want to give her business so I ask her what on menu. The dish of the day is ‘Vegetarian Briyani’

“Everyday is different lunch” she explains. The food is cooked at home and the servings are just heated in microwave at the stall. There are many offices in this mall that patronise her café.

I glance into her eatery and see chocolates, wafers, biscuits, Maggi packets, soft drinks along with sandwiches. There is a small fridge in one corner, a coffee and tea making machine on the other side. I am not really hungry and cannot decide what to order.

“Will you have corn pattice?” she offers. I order for one dish that I share with my friend. The frozen corn pattice are removed from fridge and heated on hot grill and served with tomato sauce and mint chutney. It tastes good. She has two staff members, Sardar Paramjit who takes care of cooking at the café and Ram, the delivery boy, who carries the deliveries to the offices in the mall.

She sits down with us for a friendly chat and I am impressed. During her days at our school at Swami Brahmamand Prathisthan, Maths was her favorite subject, and she had won the ‘Best Student Award’ in 2010 for her overall performance. Besides academics, Aditi loved dancing and dramatics and in an inter-school competition in 2012, won the ‘Best Actress Award’

Phone rings and she takes pen and jots down the order. Some one in the mall wants sandwiches and coffee. She repeats the order to her delivery boy and then turns her attention back to us and talks about herself. At 6pm she will go home.

“Will you go home alone? I ask

“Yes, I will take autorickshaw” she says

She is quite independent and confident. Aditi Verma has taken her initiative further. She represented Maharastra as an entrepreneur in the Self Advocate Forum of India (SAFI) at Bangaluru on December 9, 2016

“I even gave a lecture on my initiative and my desire to expand it.” she has been nominated as the State representative for SAFI

Later, we go one floor down the mall to meet her father who owns an office in the same building. He is one proud father who speak fondly of her achievements.

Hope is re-kindled for other special children too.

Living with Special Needs In India

A lot has to be done to make 'persons with special needs' life more comfortable.

Every change happens with just one short step, a step of care and concern, a step to make a difference in somebody's life, a step towards progress.

Recently I have joined Local Circle. Various communities are being formed with common goals where people are eager to give in their support. Remember Modi government has promised 'Achey Din' but he cannot do anything alone. right? We, as citizens have to come forward to help india achieve 'Achey din'

For that purpose I have stumbled upon this page on Local Circle that discusses how we can contribute in making persons with special needs life simpler.

All of us would agree to the fact that life of people with special needs or disability is very tough in India. A lot needs to be done to bring the facilities at par with the international standards. The 165,000+ strong “Transform India with Modi” online community has come together to collectively identify the key issues, the root causes and solutions for people Living with Special Needs in India. This submission is being made to the Government Leaders and the citizen community hopes that the Government will implement the identified solutions to make life for Special Needs Citizens of India, easier and better.

Only the people who live with special children understand the problems these children are facing when they venture out on the road. 

Mentally challenged people shall have to be provided privileges like health insurance coverage and specialized hospitals to be provided. Parks for children and common/general at places near colonies to be built. Traffic jams to be controlled to make pedestrians to walk freely on foot paths. Medical facilities to be provided at reasonable cost – says Gedela Naidu 

Parents of the special children spend too much money on the treatment for physical and occupational therapies and would like the government to set up such facilities at a low cost.

The Government in the centre as well as the states need to sit down and plan the requirement of the disabled/specially abled people of the requirements of their training, utilization of their mental abilities and institutions for their treatment, so that we can use such members of our society in productive spheres of activities. Their families should also be trained regarding the handling of such people in day to day life – says Rajendra Kapoor 

Time has come to form the communities of like minded people with common goal and make the change. Do go over to Local Communities for Special Children and discover how you can make a change to bring India to 'Ache Din'

How to conduct a cooking Class for Special Children

One of the activities that can be included in the training of special education is cooking.

 Teaching special children to cook is same as teaching a normal child to cook. The student may be 15years old or 20years but he/she has to be taught from the basics when he is introduced to the kitchen.

Cooking food is the fantastic way of getting children interested in healthy food habits.

Let me take you to a kitchen where a group of five students will learn to make Dhal, a traditional dish that is cooked in every home.

A proper environment should be created, where a group of children are seated comfortable (not standing together near the stove) in the kitchen.

The cooking session of Dhal can proceed with following steps

1.    Each child is given a graphic recipe of the dhal dish that they will make

2.    All the ingredients (moong dhal, water, coriander leaves, green chilies, garlic,  tomatoes, salt) are place in front of children on the table.

3.    Each child is asked to identify the ingredient by its touch, smell and taste

4.    Two children are asked to come closer to the workstation and are asked to wash the dhal with water.

5.    Children are asked to light the gas and keep dhal for boiling. One teaspoon of turmeric is added to the dhal.

While the dhal is kept to boil, the children can be involved in interactive discussion about hygiene, good eating habits or math on measurements of ingredients. Children can help in chopping tomatoes, chilies, cleaning of coriander leaves and in peeling garlic cloves.During the cooking session, children learn to apply math and reading skills as they follow recipes and measure the ingredients that they will use in the recipe. They also learn about food safety and meal planning skills. They learn about nutrition and healthy choices in fun and interactive way.

6.    When the dhal is boiled, it is lifted off from fire and churned well.

7.    Dhal is transferred back on stove.

8.    Chopped tomatoes, chilies and coriander leaves are added to the dhal.

9.    In a separate pan, oil is heated and chopped garlic is added.

10. Burnt garlic is added to the dhal.

1

 Recap of the method of preparation can be discussed with the class. Children are given a bowl ful of dhal to taste.

Some games can also be played as follow up after the session.

Moong Dhal

Ingredients

1cup moong dhal

2 cups water

2 chopped onions

2 green chilies

2 cloves of chopped garlic

1tbsp oil

salt to taste.

Method

1.    Boil dhal in 2cups of water

2.    Add turmeric powder

3.    Keep it to cook for 15 minutes or till dhal is soft

4.    Churn the dhal and mix it well

5.    Add the chopped tomatoes

6.    Add chopped chilies

7.    Add chopped coriander

8.    Add salt

9.    In a separate pan, fry the chopped garlic till brown,

10. Pour it into the dhal

Serve with boiled rice.