Dear All

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the month’s edition of our Newsletter.

October was a peaceful time of new beginnings!

Not only did we kick start a new term at school but we were also blessed to witness a momentous event in Swabodhini’s journey-the inauguration of our new centre within The Guru Nanak College Campus.

Also October being the month of festivities, Swabodhini’s product team (one of the lines of our vocational skill training -others being computer skills, office administration skills, retail skills and culinary skills training) were busy with the festive orders. Students enthusiastically made beautiful hand painted diyas and colourful eco-friendly paper bags.

Swabodhini sees the vocational products as a livelihood opportunity for young adults in the spectrum. This sheltered work opportunity has tremendous potential to provide economic and financial independence for our students.

With the additional space now available at Guru Nanak campus & the consistent support that we receive from all our supporters, we are excited about the bright prospects for our vocational products wing.

With Diwali just behind us and Thanksgiving around the corner, let’s keep up the joy in giving because it is in giving that we receive.

As we celebrate this Thanksgiving season, we thank all of our patrons and stake holders for all that you have done, are doing and will do, to partner with us!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here’s a round-up of our activities for October 2018 for you.

Inauguration Of The Swabodhini School For Special Children – Guru Nanak Centre

Our new centre at Velachery was inaugurated on 27 October 2018 by Mr Harish Lakshman Vice Chairman Rane Group and Mr Manjit Singh Nayar – General Secretary and Correspondent Guru Nanak Educational Society.

This event will go down in the annals of history of Guru Nanak College and Swabodhini school for special children as together we have broken new ground to bring out a new concept in special schools where our students and other youngsters from the college share space.

With the inauguration of this new facility, both the institutions are hoping to foster the spirit of inclusion and cater to the needs of many more special children.

The importance of peers in inclusive education for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), centers on improved social acceptance and improved social communication. Peers play a critical role as inclusion may reduce stigma, allow for social learning, increase social acceptance, and improve the social standing of students with ASD.

We also released the “Structure of Curriculum -1st edition of certificate course for students with autism and related special needs” as well as our Annual Report for 2017-18.

Please click here for more inauguration day pictures.

We are open for admissions at this centre as well as at our other centre at Tiruvanmiyur. Enquiries for admission can be made at 9884746078 and by writing to us at swabodhini@gmail.com.

Farm Visit

Excursions and field trips take the learning out of the classroom and infuse a lot of enthusiasm in our students. Many are the therapeutic benefits of visiting a farm!

The students were taken to Shreyas Farms as part of a sensory experience where they had a fun time.

The students were allowed to be free in this environment where they could roam about and touch different things so that they enjoyed the information they absorbed. The visit sure did also increase their appreciation of nature as they could see first-hand how vegetables were grown and harvested.

They also had a chance to take a splash in the pond and enjoyed every bit of that experience.

It was a day well spent.

At the school our vocational students did well to cater to the needs of the festival sale. The Vocational centre was busy with many orders coming in and we also made our presence felt at many an exhibition this season.

We were also invited by many corporates to a part of their celebrations and display our creations.

At the school our vocational students did well to cater to the needs of the festival sale. The Vocational centre was busy with many orders coming in and we also made our presence felt at many an exhibition this season.

We were also invited by many corporates to a part of their celebrations and display our creations.

Seva mela

The events for the season were kick started at Seva Mela – Chennai’s biggest Social Fair held this year on 6th and 7th October at Lady Andal School. The event saw the participation of almost 100 NGOs participating and the mela this year was a gala affair.

Another sale this month of our vocational products was held at the premises of Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

We are grateful to the organization for inviting us this year to hold a stall.

The sale of our vocational products as well as the Retail products from our Swayam Shop was held on 25 October 2018 at Grundfos pumps.

The students enthusiastically helped in setting up the stall and placing the products for display. They also got a chance to visit another office and interact with the staff.

We were also lucky to meet two of our students who have been successfully placed with Grundfos.

We are grateful to the organization for inviting us year on year to hold a stall.

Wall painting at school

Sahyog award by the Redington Foundation

Sahyog Award is an event by the Redington Foundation, where teachers are honored for their remarkable performances.

This year the event was held on 29 October at the Chellamal college auditorium.

Our teacher Ms Meena was honored with the award and we are very proud of her achievement.

We at Swabodhini believe passionately and work tirelessly towards transforming lives of individuals with autism and related challenges through special education, skill training and holistic therapies.

We thank the Redington Foundation for bestowing this award on our teacher.

Navrathri celebration – Golu

The season of Navratri is not complete in South India without the festive display of dolls. The students too at school were very enthusiastic about the festival and set up their own golu padi at school.

The golu padi held pride of space with contributions from almost all of our students.

We had a small puja on the last day of the first term and a couple of our students also sang devotional songs.