Special Needs School

As with other programme, the school for children with Special needs particularly those challenged mentally began with the response to special needs street child rescued from severe abuse. Children with special needs are a major burden for poor parents struggling top make a living for near survival. Sometimes they are seen as a curse. 35 children and youth are part of our special needs school. it receives 65% funding from the Central Government, Delhi for running costs only. The rest is raised through gifts. The dedication of teachers, the transformation of the children is a major source of joy and hope to all of us.

Goals and Objectives

*         It develops basic living skills for personal independence.

*         Enables the child to gain social, emotional and intellectual development.

*         Provide a structural learning programme  for the child in accordance with his/her deficit skills.

*         To Identify problems of children and suggest ways and means to manage them.

*         Help and guide the parents in getting co-operation from the appropriate services.

*         Helps in bringing in awareness in the community.

*        Main streaming – Integrating handicapped children into regular classes. It’s a process to achieve adaption to the best of ability with his/her non – handicapped peers.

*        Physical integration – Reduction of physical distance between retarded and normal children.

*        Functional integration – When they use different equipments and resources.

*        Societal integration – signifies that persons with M.R have, as adults same access to resources as others, same opportunity to influence their own situation, have productive working role and form a pact of social community with others.

Individuals with special needs / physical & mental disablities have associated problems. Therefore service to these individuals must be rendered using the professional skills of the interdisciplinary Team such as special educator, psychologist, Occupational therapist, speech therapist, Physio-Therapist. Psychiatrist, Pediatrician, Social Worker, Vocational counsellor etc. At DivyaShanthi, we provide the best means to help a special needs child to grow with the help / contribution with the above mentioned specialised team.

Individual education programme

For every child with special need an appropriate education and training is provided. Major components being the general back ground information about the child, current level of performance in specified skills goals and  short term objectives, methods and materials required to achieve the objective time required person, assigned in training the child and evaluation to asses whether the objective has been met or not.

The entire programme depends on the correct assessment. This includes child’s performance on skill in motor, self help, socialization, language areas, the child’s response in the following single and multiple  instructions, to identify objects used every day and the use concepts of colours, size, number, shape, sex, time and money.

 Assessment of pre-vocational skills must include his/her current interest in various work in and outside  the home, sense of responsibility, ability to take care of personal belongings so on.

Resources and Inputs required

• Inter-disciplinary team
• Curriculum: to develop the child’s total personality so that they become efficient and as independent as possible.
• The curriculum must be-

          -Goal Oriented

          - Age appropriate

          - Need based

          - Level appropriate

          - Creativity based

• Teaching Strategies: Sequencing the objects. Optimum opportunity should be provided to the child for a wide range of learning experience. The materials used must be appropriate to child and his environment. The skill can be divided into smaller parts for ease of teaching.
• Re-enforcement: Re-enforcements are an attempt to teach new behavior, to increase existing behavior at occurring in frequently and to maintain behavior at acceptable levels.
• Teaching materials and aids: Children are easily motivated, actively participate, they get excited, respond well, retain as well as remember the lesson over a longer period, they develop many skills.
• Teaching material and  aids promote multi-sensory learning.
• Visual aids: black board, charts, pictures, models, motion pictures, diagram, bulletin boards.
• Audio-Visual aids: radio, T.V, tape recorder.
• Activity aids: Garden kitchen, fairs, exhibition, aquarium, etc.