Care4autism

   Manu Sekar, CEO of Hask Hack Code, believes anyone can do computer coding. He set out to achieve what he deeply believes in—breaking down barriers for both the neurodiverse population and the marginalised community as a whole. Read on to know more about HashHackCode. Can you tell us about your journey from an entrepreneur to a social entrepreneur?                           I did my graduation abroad. After coming back to India, I started my company. It amazed me at how one could start something with just a laptop and internet connection. I realised that there were two things important to my success, one being my English language skills and then, of course, programming. Irrespective of one’s background, I would like everyone to gain this skill set of coding.                            Even with my first company; we were hiring people from diverse backgrounds. We trained girls from marginalised backgrounds in programming and hired them. Eventually, we got good at explaining coding to

  Understanding Cognitive Diversity   This post on Cognitive Diversity is , an effort to understand cognitive diversity better, based on my reading.  Peace is not unity in similarity, but unity in diversity, in the comparison and conciliation of difference- Mikhail Gorbachev 1) Why the need for diversity? If the environment changes, as it does, a species has a considerably increased chance of survival if it has a diversity of traits. Evolutionary adaptation cannot happen if everyone looks, acts, and thinks the same? Unity is not uniformity. Importantly, you can’t have selection without variation. Diversity is about recognizing that every person is a rich tapestry woven together from multiple threads.      What really matters aren’t visible differences between people but their unique perspectives on the world–call it “Diversity of thought.” Cognitive diversity means including a variety of people with different thought patterns, ideas, problem-solving methods, and mental perspectives.  F

  The Autism Label Parents dread an autism label because of the stigma associated with a disability.  Before my son was diagnosed, there was always a concern about knowing something was not ok, but not being able to figure out what it was. Being first-time parents didn't help much, either. The reason I write this post is many parents remain in denial, not realizing the label is a pointer to the services and help they should seek for the child. Until, up to that point, you are battling an unknown, and the fear of the unknown can be worrisome.    How you approach a diagnosis of autism also makes a huge difference. Once you have a diagnosis, parents with intention, effort and discipline can jujitsu with autism. A label gives you the understanding to process what's happening with the child in terms of sensory, cognitive, physical challenges and take suitable measures. First, a label can help you take positive action. Being cognizant of the facts is winning half the battle.

        For Anjana, learning is a continuous process. Talking about her college days, she says, back then, the word neurodiversity meant little to her. But now she looks at things differently. She strongly advocates a neurodiversity affirming practice. Professionals, like her, who are curious and empathetic, add great value to the families they work with. Anjana is an SLP, based out of Bengaluru. Having studied at All India Institute of Speech & Hearing, Mysore, she firmly believes in multi-modal communication and the power of AAC.                                 Anjana is also working with a team to build Subodha, into an institution working towards the vision of ‘making communication accessible for all’. How would you do you define as your role as an SLP? By profession, we must work on communication, speech, an d language. This is our forte. For me, it is both an obligation and a privilege. Communication is a basic human right. We built all other skills on it, a

    Spaced Repetition If one thinks of our brain as a muscle—each repetition is a "flex" of that muscle. Over a period of time, you are slowly pushing the muscle steadily with a more challenging task . One can also gradually increase the intervals between repetitions, once the skill is learned.             The practice of mugging formulas, which we detested in school, was a necessity. One will not derive the formula every time to work on a problem. After a point, it becomes second nature to use the right formula for a problem.                              Same with our kids. Teaching by small incremental steps and practicing each step frequently until the knowledge becomes automatic. Be it recall, communication, skills, practical applications; spaced repetitions, works.  Came across this interesting visual.                

  Summarizing this series on voices for inclusion. Thanks so much to everyone who are a part of this series. Paramita Mazumdar -. Parents must understand that the family support is the backbone of any intervention. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is crucial, and caring for your child comes first. Preeti Siwach - Sensitization in the workplace, structure, predictability and written communication goes a long way in abetting workplace transition and inclusion. Anima Nair - Neurodiversity is an organisational asset; the key lies in adopting an inclusive mindset and lending support to one another. The big question is how do we bring a change in attitude?  Vineet Saraiwala - A single-minded focus on talents and strengths of the individual, can help build a personal monopoly for them in the space they chose to work. And a fair remuneration for the work delivered will pave the path for inclusion.    Indrani Basu - There is a dire need for parents' involvement to raise a collectiv

  A resource room in a government school in a municipality, mostly because of the work by two parents, Jennifer and Indu. A laudable parents’ initiative. More on it.. The narrative started when an MLA-funded reconstruction of a government school building under the Thrikkakara corporation took place. Parents then requested for a resource room in the same building. Subsequently, it was made into a special care centre. Speaking of the described journey, Indu and Jennifer, the initiative's parents, said that convincing the authorities required a lot of persuasion and tireless work. What, however, turned the tide in their favour was a new management committee headed by Mr. Asharaf, a new Headmaster Deepa and the help of counsellor, Mrs. Hassena. Haseena, a parent and advocate by profession offered them a sympathetic ear. Being in a position of authority in the corporation, Haseena’s support was invaluable. Mr. Asharaf, also saw the value of

  Rohan Dixit - Part-2 1) Congratulations! Rohan on completing a year of blogging. How enjoyable was the ride? Thank you. It has been great and I have been enjoying it completely. I love writing about supercars, especially the ones I have seen or photographed myself. I also enjoy researching and finding information about the supercars I write about as it helps me get to know them better. Every individual supercar is interesting to me and it is my mission to document as many of them as I can and tell the stories behind them if possible. I just recently spotted a Ferrari so that was pretty amazing.   2) You have been home-schooled. What according to you are the pros and cons? Homeschooling has been a good thing for me. Not only I could learn the normal subjects but I also had the time to focus on having other experiences in my life like going out to different places and so on and then of course getting the time to focus on my interest in supercars. I don’t think there were any