Vishaal Nityanand, a young filmmaker, ploughed his own money and full commitment to make Life Flows On, a movie on people with dementia and their caregivers, in order to raise awareness and understanding about the condition that he feels is callously neglected and overlooked in India. Read his interview.
You have written and directed the film ‘Life Flows On’ that is dedicated to people with dementia and caregivers. Could you tell us a little about it?
Life Flows On deals with three dementia…
New research brings us closer to the cause of Multiple Sclerosis. A new study suggests that high levels of the protein Rab32 disrupt key communications involving mitochondria. The disruption causes these "cellular batteries" to misbehave, leading to the toxic effects seen in the brain cells of people with multiple sclerosis. The new study is the work of researchers from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom and the University of Alberta in Canada. They report their findings in the…
The Independent Living Program, an offshoot of Arunima, one of India’s first assisted living centres for teenagers and adults with autism, provides services and support to people with higher functioning autism to independence and dignity. In conversation with Aparna Das, founder director of Arunima. A few years ago, you set up Arunima, one of India’s first assisted living centres for teenagers and adults with autism. And now recently, you extended its vision to launch a new initiative, The…
The heartwarming documentary Raising the Bar directed by Onir and presented by e.motion21 is about six young individuals from Australia with Down syndrome attending the World Down Syndrome Congress in Chennai. An interview with Karina Posanzini, CEO of e.motion21. 1. The documentary movie Raising the Bar has won awards and is doing the film festival circuit. Tell us about the movie and how did the Indian-Australian collaboration come about? Raising The Bar highlights the…
The Rehabilitation Research and Device Development (R2D2) lab at IIT Madras, headed by Dr. Sujatha Srinivasan, is involved in research related to design and development of mechanisms, products and assistive devices for people with impairments. Let’s take a look at some of their pioneering products. Dr. Sujatha Srinivasan has established the Rehabilitation Research and Device Development (R2D2) lab (now the TTK Center for R2D2) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at IIT Madras with a…
The world of medicine is beginning to increasingly acknowledge the potential of expressive arts therapies such as art, music, drama, dance/movement, poetry/creative writing and play in the context of healing, treatment, psychotherapy, counselling and rehabilitation. Activities such as drawing, drumming, creative movement and play acting allow individuals of all ages to express deep-seated thoughts and feelings, improve physical, mental and emotional well-being and boost self-esteem and…
The parents and families of children with special needs go through a lot of stress and anxiety in bringing up their children. Dr Roma Kumar, a Senior Consultant in Clinical Psychology, discusses various issues that these parents have to tackle on an almost everyday basis and possible solutions. Q1. Different research and surveys across the world show that more than 50% of the parents of children with disabilities suffer from anxiety, stress and depression. In your experience in India what are…
Jellow Communicator, a free app compatible with Android tablets and mobiles has been developed by an interdisciplinary team of therapists, graphic designers, software programmers and animators at the IDC School of Design in IIT Bombay. This app aids communication and learning in children on the autism spectrum and speech impairments. An interview with Sudha Srinivasan, post-doctoral fellow, IDC, and paediatric speech therapist, who provided clinical content for the app. You and your team…
On International Childhood Cancer Day, Poonam Bagai, Founder Chairman of Cankids...Kidscan, a family support group for children suffering from cancer and their families, talks at length about how hard it is to tackle the medical and emotional wellbeing of a child who learns to grapple with reality through various stages of his treatment. 1. What are the objectives of Cankids? CanKids...KidsCan is a National Society for Change for Childhood Cancer in India & YANA (You are not Alone) -…
