The Bangalore experience:

We were in Bangalore last one month or so. Frankly speaking, our visit to Bangalore was an eye opener in many ways, helping us to get know the system better in terms of logistics, people, housing………..We decided to relocate to Bengaluru (must get the name right) for Ramam’s sake and I think the visit has convinced us the move is justified. Let me warn you in the beginning, this is a long post.

Bangalore-- schools

As for the schools we visited we first went to Bubbles run by Sarbani Mallick.  This is in Govindraj nagar. (9845557115). It is more of an activity centre where children go after school hours with more emphasis on social and play skills. This academic session, they plan to run a school. They focus on games that promote functional academics. It can be a starting point for early intervention from where the child can move on. The school timings would be 9.30-12.00 .The next were a group of schools on the Sarjapur road; Greenwood high, Inventure academy. It is a huge waste of time and money. Green wood high leaves you high and dry. After speaking and confirming the appointment twice with Mr. Domello the Principal, on reaching the place at the appointed hour, we were told by the admission staff that the management has taken a decision just this friday not to admit autistic kids. Inventure had the same oft repeated pathetic excuses of lacking staff…..  Their   only claim to special education, inclusive education, whatever these tags are is to take on some slow learners and kids with learning difficulties. Amara Soundarya vidyala, (9880393070) in RMV extension, behind ISRO, is a regular school which takes in children with special needs. They are intending to start a special school this year. It is run by Nirmala Amaranath, who is well meaning. They have a preschool, primary school and an international school for the higher classes. The advantage as we saw it was, probably when the child can mainstream, he can move on to the higher classes, in the same set up. They wanted to take Ramam in L.K.G and were willing to reconsider their decision, but it didn’t seem right to us to put a 9 yr old with 4 yr olds. Anyway, that left us in doubt about their ability to handle the problem. Sunshine centre for autism (25251808), in Domlur layout is run by Vanitha Rao. They follow the TEACCH approach. The student teacher ratio is excellent (with time the details are getting a little hazy), something as 1:2 and she is knowledgeable. The school has been running since 1983.Apoorva centre for autism in J.P nagar (08025599014) is run by Nithyalakshmi Apoorva.  The highlights being lots of structure, good teacher student ratio, and hard core academics if the child can learn, with some children preparing for open school. Vocational options are also available for the children not so academically inclined. Soft spoken, Nithyalakshmi got straight to the point and asked me what plans I have for Ramam 5 years down the line. They have somebody coming in for OT, and speech. They offer remedial sessions in the afternoon. ASHA Academy for severe handicaps and autism in Basveswaranagar (08023225279) is run by Jaishree Ramesh. It is a professional set up with as much as 90 children. The infrastructure is good in terms of the building, and class rooms. They are starting the NIOS curriculum this year. They encourage children with special interest as painting, music. They have a separate unit for children for vocational needs. The student –teacher ratio is good.hey also offer speech and OT services.

Apart from this we had been to NIMHANS and COMM-DEALL.

NIMHANS: In NIMHANS the OPD is on from morning 9 (Monday-Friday). It is preferable to reach a little earlier as there is a long queue. I understand people coming from outstations stay put the previous night. If you are going there the first time you need to register yourself, Rs 20. There are two counters. Proceed to counter 2 if you have the referral of a neurophysician/psychiatrist. Then they do a preliminary screening. Then you move to the opposite block where the assessment is done. An elaborate assessment with inputs from all departments can take upto a month. Once the initial assessment is done, the doctor who has  assessed your child takes you to The HOD, Dr. Shoba Srinath who then counsels you. Once the file is ready one can follow it up with reviews every three months. For want of time we could not do a complete assessment. We met Dr .Yamini of the speech and audiology. Both Dr. Shoba Srinath and Dr.Yamini are very knowledgeable and drive home their point with simple lucid real life examples. Dr. Yamini very patiently explained the importance of talking to him constantly.

COMM-DEALL: A very professional set up; they accommodated us despite it being their close to vacation time. We had walked in without an appointment. They did a detailed assessment, called us up and fixed a date for the follow up, gave us a live demo as to how to go about working with him, areas to focus on. We also got an OT assessment done.  It is run by Dr. Pratibha Karant .Located on the Hutchins Road, their telephone  number is 080-25800826.They also have a centre for children up to 5 yrs, the focus is on communication. They also do one to one sessions for older children.

Moving around in Bangalore. There are plenty of call taxi services and autos. All of them run on meters, and hence there is no bargaining. Some auto drivers do really take you for a ride, giving you a Bangalore darshan. The public transport also seems to be fairly ok. Traffic jams are a big problem but this has been helped to some extent, by making it one –way, on most roads.

FOOD: Food is not definitely an issue even with GFCF. We located one or two shops selling GFCF stuff such as cookies, bread mix etc. One finds all kinds of restaurants. Santhi sagar, Adigas…….. (Chain of hotels) are ubiquitous and in between checking out two schools for Ramam we would hop into the nearest Shanthi Sagar for a plate of his Sambhar vada.For more on autism resource in Bangalore visit.
http://care4autism.blogspot.com/2009/12/job-opportunities-for-autistics.html
http://care4autism.blogspot.com/2009/06/talking-to-autisticpart-2.html
http://care4autism.blogspot.com/2009/12/more-montessori-schools-activity-centre.html
http://care4autism.blogspot.com/2009/11/asha-academy-for-autism-and-severe.html
http://care4autism.blogspot.com/2009/11/information-and-resource-centre.html
http://care4autism.blogspot.com/2009/12/irc-autism-awareness-walk.html
http://care4autism.blogspot.com/2009/11/drsr-chandra-sekhar-institute-for.html