Topic- Understanding children with special needs
Speakers- Ms.Seema Patil & Ms.Nita Walimbe from Anugraha Foundation
“Autism is a part of the child, it’s not everything that the child is. The child is so much more than the diagnosis.”
2 nd April has been observed as World Autism Awareness Day. It is a means to affirm and promote the full realization of all human rights and fundamental freedom for autistic people on an equal basis with others. With a view to sensitize teachers, a session was conducted on “Understanding Children with Special Needs” on this very significant day.
Ms. Seema covered the points on Inclusion as per the New Education policy explaining the RPWD act of 2016 with statistics which showed the acceptance of Autism now present in the act. She emphasized about importance of accepting the child with their special needs and timely decisions that need to be made for their schooling. She spoke about the challenges that lie in making the school an inclusive one in the real sense. She also highlighted the comorbidities that could exist with Autism like ADHD or Giftedness and the manifestations that a child exhibits. Ms. Nita described the 5 steps to Inclusion and spoke of ways and means in which the teacher can be equipped herself to
help a child with special needs in her class. The session concluded with a video showing activities of the children from the Anugraha Foundation which left many teachers teary eyed. Anugraha foundation is a non profit charitable organization working for CWSN.
They work for improving the life of physically, mentally, economically and socially challenged individuals by empowering them through therapy, training and skill development.
It was overall a very enlightening session on this important topic conducted on this significant day.
