Close on the heels of International Day of Disabled Persons (December 3), various organisations in the City observed the ‘National Disability Day’ on Friday by organising special programmes for the special children.
Prayas Developmental and Disability Clinic at Choithram Hospital and Research Centre: Children in the age group of 3-10 years who are already registered with Prayas were taken for a picnic to ‘Govardhan Dham’ near Rau.
According to Prayas’ paediatric expert Dr Kamna Jain, “The children need exposure to outdoor activities. By taking them for a picnic, we wanted them to socialise in a busy public place. Many of the parents of the children accompanied us on the occasion.”
Children played simple games like ball passing which enhance their motor and mental skills too. All the children were in the mild to moderate category of mental retardation. They come to Prayas for three hours daily where they undergo training for various learning skills.
Specialised training facilities like speech therapy and physiotherapy are given to children who are mentally retarded, physically disabled, those having Down’s syndrome and also those with problems related to slow learning or hyper activity are offered at Prayas. The children participate in different activities like drawing, painting and dance, which increase their confidence level and helps in overall development. After training at the centre, the children are sent to vocational training schools to make them self-reliant in future.
{{/usCountry}}Specialised training facilities like speech therapy and physiotherapy are given to children who are mentally retarded, physically disabled, those having Down’s syndrome and also those with problems related to slow learning or hyper activity are offered at Prayas. The children participate in different activities like drawing, painting and dance, which increase their confidence level and helps in overall development. After training at the centre, the children are sent to vocational training schools to make them self-reliant in future.
{{/usCountry}}“But most important are the interpersonal skills which they need to learn when they move about in the society. The outing was an excuse to take them out of the daily schedule,” Dr Jain added.
Sparsh Rehabilitation, Guidance and Counselling Centre: The special children registered with the centre participated in various competition with events like drawing, dance and fancy dress competition specially organised for them.
“Children in the age group of 3-12 years participated in the programme. Children in the mild retardation category spoke extempore on topics like mother, sister, environment etc,” according to Sparsh Director Dr Madhavi Tiwari.
All participating children were given prizes as an effort to encourage them, she added. Working in the field of special children, Sparsh focuses on integrated education approach for the specially-abled children.
“Not just the children, we also train and sensitise the parents of such children so that they develop a better understanding of their wards and in turn the society develops a better understanding for such children,” Dr Tiwari said.