Developmental Challenges

Shaloo Sharma, the head of a school in Gurgaon committed to inclusive education and Sunil Bhatt, a certified physical instructor for children with special needs from Ancramdale, New York share their views on the importance of Adaptive Physical Education for children with disabilities. Adaptive Physical Education - A rights-based approach to accessible play. Every child has the right to play. According to the Right To Education, it is mandatory for every school to have a robust Physial Education…

Madhusudan Srinivas, parent of a 24 year old autistic boy, Abhimanyu, shares the surprises a day throws up for families of people with autism. His life's vision is to ensure enjoyable evenings for all people with special needs, especially the community of young adults with autism.  Blips on a screen, jumble of words for you, but way beyond reality bites for me, and for us in the autism community.  Hi all, this is Madhusudan Srinivas, father of Abhimanyu  24 and autistic, and…

Janaki Balakrishnan is not just a parent whose son has multiple disabilities, but also a Special educator and an active member of parent support organisations. She shares her observations of parents who are in similar situations and what they should ideally avoid for stress-free caregiving roles I am a parent of a young adult with special needs and live in Chennai. My 22 year old son (only child), is deaf and mute and has multiple issues such as cerebral palsy, seizures, profound mental…

Saswati Singh, Trustee member with Navprerna Foundations, a welfare organisation for the training and rehabilitation of persons with Autism and other developmental disabilities, talks about how important food intake can be for people with autism as well as other disabilities Autism is a developmental disorder, which affects social skills, communication, thought and behaviour. This is more of a neuro-physiological disorder and affected persons have difficulty in processing and integrating…

Meet Miss Wheelchair Runner Up 2014, Model/Actress, Motivational Speaker, Writer, Disability Rights Advocate and Quora's Top Writer Virali Modi. From a bubbly 14-year-old school girl in Pennsylvania, USA, she was rendered paralysed neck down as a result of an unknown diagnosis (meningitis, enchephalitis, meningioenchepalitis, spina bifida, and/or transverse myelitis). She shares her opinions of how Indian society needs to go through a sea change vis a vis its attitude towards people with…

Mr. R.B. Krishnan, 68 has a 27-year-old son Vivek B.K on the Autism Spectrum and has been a hands-on father, along with his wife. He shares with us his difficult and joyous moments with his son and also offers a few tips for parents in similar situations The pic above is of Vivek, Mr. Krishnan and his entire family.  When was your son diagnosed and what were the early symptoms? Vivek was diagnosed with Autism when he was around 1 ½ years old. He couldn’t stay in play school with the other…

The world’s first prosthetic legs made out of special kind of cane allows an amputee to walk, run and dance with greater ease as it is light-weight and has compliant spring. Meet Arun Cherian, founder of Rise Legs, the Bangalore based startup behind this innovative cane legs. Arun , it is a brilliant and game changing concept, please tell us a about your company and the idea? Rise Legs is a startup company with just four employees based in Bangalore. We make high quality, cost effective…

Dr Roma Kumar, Clinical Psychologist and Senior Consultant at the Institute of Child Health at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, talks about how siblings of a child with a condition also need care and empathy and what may be the emotional turmoil for such a sibling, as a child and often even as an adult. What is the positive and negative impact of a child with disability or a serious health condition on the brothers and sisters? The quality of the life of family members, as well as of the…

Chitra Iyer, mother of 18-year-old Shravan with autism, feels all her challenges and hardships melt away and every moment of life becomes worth living when a beautiful smile radiates across her son’s face. Here she shares Shravan’s childhood and preparing a life plan for him for the next 20 years. When Shravan came into our lives we were overjoyed. The fact that he survived the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for 26 days and came home with us was itself a huge victory. When he would cry…

Amba Salelkar, a Chennai-based legal expert and disability rights activist, urges that the Government take steps to amend the laws relating to property rights, and introduce safeguards to ensure that persons with disabilities are not discriminated. Persons with disabilities who are most likely to have problems when it comes to property are those who face greater restrictions in participation on account of impairments that affect their ability to understand, judge and communicate decisions…