Focused Activities of functional Daily Living (ADL) in ‘Arivusudar’

TIRUCHI the 5,March: “Training in toileting, grooming, eating and other Activities of Daily Living, Quality Academic Skills, Communication Skills, Life Coping skills, Vocational Skills and Provision of Balanced diet for intellectually Challenged children in Special Residential Bridge Course under SSA imparted in ‘Arivu Sudar School’ of  SEVAI, a Trichy based NGO is run with quality performance of sphere standards’’ said Junie Kacer, a Master of Social Work student while  summing up the interaction between students of Marywood Univesity, Pennsylvania, U.S.A and Special Educators / intellectually challenged inmate 40 children of Society for Education, Village Action and Improvement , (SEVAI) on the 4^th March after visiting the school in Allur and its facilities and care given. The international visit by a delegation of 20 students from the School of Social Work, Marywood University was a study tour and a launch pad for possible collaborative activities in the future, according to Dr.Packiaraj Arumugham, Associate Professor, School of Social Work, Marywood University, and Dr.K.Govindaraju, Director, SEVAI.

‘Arivusudar, the school for intellectually challenged of SEVAI is all about strong conviction and social values. It is a brief compilation of the spirit and endeavour of one individual wholly committed to keep this flame of conviction and values alive through Arivusudar, the school for the intellectually challenged children. In this school, the intellectually challenged children have been provided with a new meaning for their existence and a capacity for facing life within their capabilities without the fear of discrimination and ridicule. The handful of dedicated teachers who share a common vision of seeking a better world for these lesser-gifted children, with their untiring work, love, compassion and an infinite patience deserve appreciation’ said Dr.Jude Gonsalvez, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, Marywood University, the coordinator of the study tour program.

Ms.Xyian Stephen, Education coordinator of SEVAI enlightens the team that each child is trained according to his/her abilities. The end result is astonishing that every child here is a child, perhaps, not a child endowed with all the normal capabilities but still a CHILD. This child is not a curio, an exhibit; it is a normal child with feelings inside like any of us. We accept them as they are. Ms.Xyian Stephen further added SEVAI imparts training so as to make every child self-reliant and reduce the burden for their parents. There are around 40 special children belonging to low income families trained by the school. The school provides academic, vocational, medical and psychological support to the children and their parents for Mildly, Moderately, and severely mentally challenged.

Mrs. Maria Kulanthai, the Principal care taker of these children said that  the  school concentrates on self help skills and self-hygiene for the children,  Need based training for every child,  Motor activities and development,  Physiotherapy for spastic children,  Language skills – speech therapy,  Reading and Writing skills,  Arithmetic – Time and Money concepts,  Psycho-social intervention for parents,  Parental Counseling for handling the children,  Guidance and Vocational Training,  Yoga & Medical care by qualified doctors, and  Sports and Physical excellence encourages their children to play games and dance to music so as to achieve holistic development of the children. Earlier the SEVAI team gave traditional welcome to the teachers and after the interaction the team left for Allur to visit Panchayat Level Federations.NNS