A visit to Shristi

This weekend I went to a place called Shristi Special Academy, some of us at Asha have been thinking of sponsoring some of the projects here. Shristi Special Academy (http://www.shristi-special-academy.org/) a non-profit organisation, headed by a team of trained, qualified and experienced special educators who provide quality services and well designed and structured intervention programmes to children with mental retardation, autism or any other intellectual impairment. They started off in 1995 with about 3 teachers and 4 children and have now grown to about 100 kids, and about 40 odd teachers, with various specialities.

We first went to the Shristi office in Basaveshvarnagar. This is their main administrative office, and they have about 25 children here in the ages of 1-5. We met with some of the specialist teachers there – this place conducts most of the consulation with specialist doctors from NIMHANS, St. John’s, Manipal hospital, etc. Most of the kids here come in with severe disabilities – absence of any neck movement, hand-eye-legs coordination, ability to speak, lots more than I can remember. They also have a small physiotherapy section which is used to help children with walking disabilities, etc. This programme is for children below the age of 5 years, with delayed development and psycho motor retardation. It gives specific emphasis on sensory motor training and is aimed at reducing deficits and atypical traits by training children in activities to promote development and learning of new skills which might not occur by itself or naturally due to developmental delay. It was quite heart rending to see such small children suffering from so many unheard-of ailments, and yet awe-inspiring to see this small bunch of teachers trying to make a difference to these kids.

Their bigger school is about 15 km away in a place called Channenhalli. We went with two of the teachers and it was quite a ride on Magadi road. But once we left the city limits, and approached the Shristi campus, it was greenery on all sides. The Shristi school is located on a donated 2 acre farm. A large part of the area is being used for cultivation, growing vegetables, etc. But all this was later…the first thing that greeted us as soon as we entered was this amazing bunch of children of all ages, who immediately recognised their favorite teachers and came running to the car greeting us. It was quite amazing. They ran by the car till we parked, held our hands while we got out & led us into the building.

The mentally challenged are between one and three percent of the population. However, as intellectual impairment is an invisible handicap, it is generally not recognized and little is known about it. Further, a majority of existing institutions have stipulations for admission such as refusing services for children who are not toilet trained or individuals with severe retardation and seizure disorders. Very few institutions have programmes such as vocational training for those over 16 years, this implies that many individuals who are mentally challenged do not get opportunities to realize their potential and generally live lives of neglect. Shristi tries to help by identifying skills of such children, nurture them and help them grow these skills into a vocation by which they can try to lead a normal life. They also have tie ups with some of the regular schools where they can send children who have recovered.

The intervention programme offers system and routine for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and children with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. A combination of therapeutic approaches is provided to manage the multi symptomatic presentation of inattention, overactivity and impulsivity along with other clinical symptoms.

We spent a good couple of hours there, had lunch with the teachers and some other volunteers, and soon, it was time to leave. We went back to the classrooms, to say good bye to the kids. They went away with their teacher and came running to us with gifts to remember them by.

As I stood outside gazing at the green fields around me, the children waving good bye to us, I couldn’t help marvel at these kids trying to etch out a living, the small group of dedicated individuals who were trying to help make a difference these kids and contrast it with the extravagant inconsequentialities my own daily life held. I knew I wanted to come back here more often…