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Autism
  • Building Self-Esteem in Kids through Photography
    Leading photographer and artist Samar Singh Jodha, has been conducting workshops for marginalised and disabled children in Asia and Africa to empower and bring joy to their lives with the help of the camera. Here he talks about his transformative initiative. I have been conducting photography workshop on pro bono basis for underprivileged children in Asia, Africa and Middle East. Over the last several years, the workshops have been going beyond the honing of children’s creativity to help raise…
  • Profile pic of Sagar Shanbag, a young man with green polo tshirt with a profile brick wall in the background
    Benefits of Swimming For Children On Autism Spectrum
    Sagar Shanbhag, a professional swimming coach, who has started a swimming program for children with special needs, says that while any exercise is good, swimming is particularly beneficial for development of their attention, focus, learning, sensory processing and social skills. Could you tell us little bit about yourself and how you started teaching swimming to special needs children? I went to the US to pursue a graduate degree. After I finished, I got a job near Washington, D.C. One day,…
  • How Dance and Movement Therapy helped a Young Girl on the Autism Spectrum
    Tripura Kashyap, founder-director of Apoorva Dance Theatre in Bangalore and one of the pioneers of Creative Movement Therapy in India writes about how Dance and Movement Therapy helped Sheela, a 12-year-old girl on the Autism Spectrum in multiple ways. Read on: Movement and dance have the power to reach out to anyone. Dance Therapy cuts across socio-cultural-linguistic divides and impacts even those who we think are unreachable, living in their own realities. Sheela* is one such person that I…
  • ‘Amma, I want to Stay and Enjoy the Festival Forever’
    The Velvi Art for Autism Festival is a unique and exciting confluence of nationally and internationally renowned artistes and the autism community to celebrate talent and culture, make friends and have fun. We bring you feedback of the participants - youngsters and their parents - and details on this year’s Festival held over three days in Bangalore recently. Like every year, the Velvi Art for Autism Festival 2017 held in Bangalore recently was ushered in with much anticipation and fanfare. The…
  • The Relevance of Adapted Physical Education in Schools
    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…
  • Importance of Diet Control for Autism
    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…
  • The Healing Power of Therapy Dogs
    Having witnessed the power of the human-animal bond, Maureen Huang started Pawsibility that specializes in the use of Animal Assisted Therapy in conducting counselling and social emotional development programmes to help children and youth in Singapore overcome challenges and reach their full potential. Tell us how dogs help people with disabilities or conditions. Dogs change the atmosphere of a therapy setting. They help people to relax, be more engaged in the therapeutic process and be more…