Care4autism

Here is the list of two more schools in Bengaluru send to me by another parent.  The schools are near the Thippasandara area. One is kara4kids and  the other Geethanjali Montessori Both offer integrated programs, kara4kids is really expensive . There are however no therapies in Geetanjali The staff here have dealt with autistic kids.  Also check out my earlier posts on schools in bengaluru .                               He also recommends another app for the i-pod First words Delux which his son loves. Here are the links to two websites that have a wealth of information http://www.autism-pdd.net/ . http://www.possibilitiesunlimited.in/ . The second website is oriented towards education of special children                      T...

  I have been getting some google   searches looking for Dr Nandini Mundkur.   She is a developmental pediatrician. She is with the Centre for child development and disabilities Bangalore. She with her team are a group of professionals trained in ADI_ autism diagnostic inventory and ADOS autism diagnostic observation schedule. They are into early intervention. She can be contacted at 080 23342035 or 41205034 .Their website is www.ccdd.in . She is also on the panel of   consultants,  at   Samvad, Institute of speech and hearing, Hebbal, Bangalore.

         In the older lot, the children were asked to express their feelings for the oppoite sex.What did x feel about Y? The parents were asked to comment on their dreams and fears for their children. For those of the children who could express themselves, either by writing or verbally,  they were encouraged to do so. For the rest, the parents put in their aspirations and fears. Some of the individual dreams were that they could encourage their childrens’ culinary skiils, music talent, painting interest, to become a chef, musician, and painter. Data entry was also one of he options mentioned. As one of the boys put it in his own words, “I do not want my mother to be hurt, I want to be able to take care of my bag and mobile”…., to me the depth of their thoughts and concern was amazing. Some of the common fears were What after us? Self defense Ability to take care of their belonginings Financial dealings Any major health ailments Anybody taking undue a...

A dance drama workshop was conducted on the 13th, 14th, 15 th and 16 th of January in the Rotary auditorium. Initially I was sceptical as to how a workshop of this kind would work for a non verbal child. The workshop was conducted BY ASHA, Basweshwara nagar under Jaishree’s stewardhip. Nikki Bettcher Erickson ,autism coordinator  from WCI, Willmar,Andrew Nelson ,Educational specialist form Marshall Unversity, Huntington, along with Prof.Ramamoorthi  from Madurai Kamaraj Unversity conducted the 4 day workshop in Bangalore.Majority of the children who participated were in the age group 12 and above.                  The work shop was conducted in a phased manner .The first two days were more of warm- up sessions. On the third and fourth day this was followed by practise on a play, discussions with parents on various issues concerning autism. There were lot of fun games, involving the children, and...

There is a growing number of opportunities for adult autistics to seek employment. Sounds like music to one's ears.Some of the opportunities in Bangalore are NITHYA SAADHANA : The contact person is Mrs. Hema Nataraj, No.315,7th main, Vijayanagar, Bangalore-40 080-40907028,9663397673. hema_n1957@yahoo.co.in. The target trade/industries under consideration are Electronic assembly/repair Handicrafts Administration Data processing The target trainees include young adults with down's syndrome,border line MR,high functioning adult autistics in the age group 15-25. Area of work would be wire bunching and crimping, PCB stuffing,  Component formation.The training period would be anywhere between 6-9 months and the select ones with necessary skill set shall be further trained to be a trainer under the "Train the turner" program. AMBA : They work in tandem with schools and institutions that are already involved in the field of special education....

This is a list of schools,  part of the  data bank we made before moving to Bangalore.  I do not much about the schools in the sense I have not visited them. Should any of you visit these centers’ /schools please give us  your feed back as other readers would also benefit.The list comprises of mainstream schhols supporting inclusive education and also activity centres offering various therapies.  I shall keep updating this list as I get more inputs. Integrated montessori "Around the Child”based at Vijayanagar. Sanjeevani Montessor i Jai Bharat nagar, the contact person is Kalyani Ganapathy 9886396693.  Premji Occupational therapy centre (Sumitra - 9980155414).  ABA  Suruchi Sancheti (9980135754). Winds o' Change run by Manjit Kochar. Her contact numbers are +91 80 41150897 Mobile: +91 98456 99451. Sai Foundation   , Hal second stage, near National Public school. This is a Montessori set up and the name of the principal is MS,Sha...

This was a Sunday with a difference. We,  along with other parents were on a mission to pledge our support for the cause of autism.  On Sundays, we are generally twiddling our thumbs wondering what to do.  6 th December was a Sunday well spent.  The highlights of the walk include ·          Flagging of the walk and release of the IRC  calendar by the governor of Karnataka. ·          Panel discussion by parents on various issues concerning autism. ·          An announcement by Mrs. Hema Nataraj, an experienced special educator and a parent at that, of the establishment of NITHYA SADHANA, a vocational initiative to provide young adults with Down syndrome, mild MR, and high functioning autistics an opportunity to work . This was extremely well received with a thunderous round of applause. Membership forms for a nominal amount of Rs.100 w...

The countdown begins, with 7 days to go for the autism awareness walk organised by the IRC.The event will be flagged off by the governor of karnataka, and will culminate at the planetarium.Please pledge your support to the cause of autism and the thousands of families whose lives have been changed for ever by autism. Make your presence felt on the 6th of December.For more information contact autismirc@gmail.co. The telephone number is 41203426. There are whole lot of activities planned for the day with lots of people voicing their concern over various issues dealing with autism.

The information and resource centre (irc) and the rotary Bangalore west recently organized the program –Kalangana-2009 the art, music and dance festival for children with autism and other developmental disabilities on the 9th of November. The first Kalangana event was held in 2007. This year it was organized at the sri vidya vihara auditorium at Shankarapuram. The event drew 500 participants this year as compared to the meager 150 last year. One of the organizers Sumathi Ramjee, was telling me that there is something magical about the whole event. The children are so well behaved that it is hard to believe. Not a single child screams, shouts, no child runs around, it is incredible. It is the same story every year. Children about to the age of 18 are allowed to participate and win prizes. Those above 18 can participate but are not judged. The program includes drawing competition, solo and group dance competitions, solo and group music competitions ( both singing and instrumental).Here ...

ASHA academy for severe handicaps and autism Earlier one of my readers had asked me which school Ramam goes to, after reading the post on Bangalore experience.He goes to ASHA. It is located in Basaweshwara nagar and is run by the dynamic Jaishree Ramesh.The teacher to student ratio is excellent. There is a lot of emphasis on visual learning.Written receipes for the cooking classes, use of schedule charts for the daily routines, social stories.The children are also taken on home visits and a monthly picnic.Two months back,they had been to the turf club and enjoyed horse riding.They have a yoga techer, speech therapist, music teacher,art therapist and an occupational therapist on board.The school timings are from 10-4.The special educator in each class is ably supported by the assistant teachers. IEPs with both short and long term goals are made. The school also had its sports meet in October.The school has a parents association.The school infrastructure is good. The schools stood ...

On a Sunday morning with time weighing heavily on our hands, skies overcast we are undecided as to how to spend the day. We decided to go for the book fest and it turned out to be a wonderful decision. Both the kids had a good time. Ramam flipped thru the pages in the book stalls, watched the video CDS’, taking his pick of the CD’s. There is a huge collection of books ranging from activities to stories. Name it and it is there. There is a standard 10% discount. We picked up a collection of the DK series, some story books. There is a stall by the Chandrasekhar institute of hearing as well. The National book trust has a stall. Some of the story books here are very good for picture description activities. There are some food stalls too, to complete the Sunday outing. I think it is open from the 6 th -13 th of November.

Located in Kariyanapalya, this institiute has been a great find. It boasts of an excellent reputation and lives up to one’s expectations. After the initial assessments are done, the psychologist decides on the therapies required by the child. The sessions are conducted by students doing the bachelor/masters program under the supervision of the staff. The interns from this institute work at various centers including schools and hospitals. They are very professional and the sessions are monitored by the staff thru a close circuit TV, and discussions with the therapist. They offer OT, behavioural intervention, and speech therapy. One pays upfront for 5 sessions, the fees are a nominal Rs 100 for a 45 min session.One can choose the time and number of visits. They work in two shifts 8.30-3.30 and 11-00-7.00. Foremost they understand autism and Dr. Pratibha Karant of comm.-deall is one of the members on the board. Again there is a unit of comm-deall functioning f...

When we were in Bangalore recently, our visits to NIMHANS and COMMDEALL taught us a great deal on the communication aspect. The guidelines given to us were based on our son’s age and ability. ·          TALK, Talk, Talk…………Talk as much as you can. For instance go beyond telling this is cricket and there are two teams. Go a step ahead tell him this is IPL, it is a 20-20 game, the match is telecast live….Otherwise his learning process would get very badly affected. The bottom line is to treat him as an older boy. ·          It is very important to teach our kids verbs and not just nouns. Flash card learning (pointing to the correct action words on the flash card) alone does not help. Generalize a lot. ·          Make him request, label things. ·          Play small games such as I name a fruit, you name one. Lets us label and point to all the objects, people in a given room or house. ·          Be very firm with a NO. Draw clear boundaries and communicate to him what is not per...

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...