Help a mentally challenged child reach school by Khushboo Welfare Society

The following days were celebrated during the last six months-

Republic Day Celebration: Republic Day was celebrated in the center. National Flag was hoisted by Mr. Vijay Pal, Director - Programs, in the presence of all the staff members followed by online cultural performances by the children.

Basant Panchmi: Basant Panchami was celebrated in the center. All the staff and children participated in the Saraswati pooja. The children were taught the importance of Basant Panchmi.

Women’s Day Celebrated Women’s Day was celebrated in the center. Dr. Saroj Suman Gulati, Director, of Blue Bells Group of schools was the chief guest.

Holi Celebration: Holi was celebrated in the center. Children celebrated by performing cultural programs.

Farewell Function: A farewell party was organized for Mr. Umir Singh who worked as a Driver and worked for more than 2.5 decades. During his tenure, he worked very passionately. Khushboo wishes him a happy and comfortable retired life.

The following events were also conducted during this time- Splash Painting Competition: 13 children participated in the SPLASH painting online competition organized by the concern India Foundation. 6 of our children won prizes too in two different categories.

Visit of DSW and CMO Office: Officials from the DSW office and CMO Govt. Hospital Gurgaon, visited Khushboo to see the working of the Centre. Mr. Vijay Pal, Director Program briefed about the various activities post-Covid.

Computer Training: Children are taught designing via computers based on their individual learning abilities using a special mouse and keyboard. It also helps them to enhance their eye coordination and motor skills.

Multimedia Workshop: A round table discussion was conducted on the Art and Design of books with AIMS Media, Delhi. The objective of having this meeting was to further the cause and add value addition to the existing program.

Webinar on Autism Care: A webinar was conducted by Dr. Lalit Kumar (Occupational therapist) on Autism Care in association with Prishni. This webinar was not only for the parents and caretakers of Khushboo but was for other parents also.

Workshop on ADHD: A workshop was conducted by Dr. Lalit Kumar (Occupational therapist) on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He also conducted Hand Holding Training for the Rehabilitation team on Occupational Therapy and activities, treatment, and strategies used in different conditions”.

Legal Guardianship: Khushboo is an NGO member of the Local Level Committee (National Trust) for the District Gurgaon. helped the five eligible applicants to get the Legal Guardianship Certificate During this process Khushboo guided the parents about the documentation. Post documentation a home visit was done to ensure the authenticity.

Autism Day Celebration: 2 children participated in the painting competition at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.

Autism Day Celebration in SGT: Our children were invited by SGT University to Autism Day Celebration on their campus. 3 children from our side visited SGT University and participated in various cultural 07th and 28th of May 2022: activities.

Fun Day: Children and Staff members enjoyed the last working day before summer vacations as a fun day. They shared their food dishes, danced, and had fun together.

Health Checkup by Special Olympics Bharat: 17 Children were taken to the Health Checkup camp organized by Special Olympic Bharat at SGT University, Gurgaon.

Visit by State Disability Commissioner Haryana State Disability Commissioner Haryana Mr. Raj Kumar Makkar, visited the center. Mr. Makkad appreciated the work done by Khushboo.

Workshop on Autism for Parents & Staff: An open workshop was conducted by Mr. Lalit Kumar, Khushboo's Occupational therapist on the topic “Autism Care.”

Performing art Workshop by CINEASTE Production: A two-day workshop was arranged by “Artist Elevated”, where they interacted with children through various activities. The activities include storytelling, mandala, art & craft, yoga, and dance.

Orientation and Awareness on the use of TLM kits for PWD: Experts from NIEPID Secunderabad conducted online training on the use of Teaching Learning Material (TLM) kits for PWD. Khushboo has purchased all 4 TLM kits from NIEPID. The TLM kits vary according to the mental age groups and are used for mental exercises, concept development, sensory development, etc.

No challenges were faced. We have trained professionals to work with children with disabilities.

Our goal for the next 6 months is to focus on training and counseling of parents.

Ravi Shanker Patel, 13yrs /male, joined Khushboo on 02/03/2017

His initial diagnosis was Mental Retardation. Initially, he has speech problems and speaks only Ma and papa. He has no neck control, no sitting balance, and no control over his body. Earlier, he needs assistance in activities of daily living. He was drooling all the time. He was sitting in W sitting. At the time of joining, he doesn’t like to play or communicate with anyone. His fine motors are poor and he is not able to hold a pen or pencil. Now he is able to speak some words. With continued therapeutics, he is now able to walk with walkers. His control over his body has increased. Now he is able to take his food independently. His drooling has reduced. Now he is sitting properly. His fine motor skills have improved and now he is able to hold pencils, pens, etc. He also enjoys finger painting and coloring. Earlier he used to be quietly lying down, but now he wants to play with his friends and with his family members at home. He can not only recognize but also separate vegetables if we mix them. He also likes to go out to the park and observe. Ravi’s journey has been anything but not easy but Khushboo has been a steady guiding force in the lives of this migrant family from Chhattisgarh with extremely limited means.

1. State Championship Agniv Nandi participated in the State Championship of Haryana in Table Tennis. He won the silver medal.
2. Independence Day Celebration We celebrated Independence Day at the Centre. National Flag was hoisted. The cultural performance was given by the children.
3. Staff Training Educators and therapeutic staff attended the Virtual seminar on ‘Teaching and Learning Material (TLM) for Persons with Intellectual and Developmental
   Disabilities (PwIDDs). The training was organized by The National Trust.
4. Visit to the School for the Visually Impaired An Exposure visit for the staff was organized to Captain Chandan Lal Special Middle School for Blind, Behrampur, Gurgaon.
5. Online Dance Competition An Online Dance Competition was organized on the 17th of this month by the Concern India Foundation. Our Children performed in Group Dance, Solo Dance, and Solo Song.
6. Online Music Therapy (Staff Training) A Webinar on Aggressive Behaviour in Adults and children with disabilities and Music therapy was attended by staff members. The webinar was addressed by Mr. Dilip Mani – A music Therapist and Healer.
7. Awareness camp at Tauru Disability identification and awareness camp was held at our residential site, Tauru. The prime purpose of the camp was to establish a relationship with the local people. 18 children and adults with different disabilities were attended by our staff.
8. Children’s Day The children's day was celebrated at the center by doing sports competitions, singing, and dancing.
9. Disability Day Celebration This year we celebrated Disability Day with SGT University students. Our children enjoyed this day as university students performed various plays on the stage and finally, our children too danced with the university students.
10. Barbeque Nation Visit Our 9 children visited Barbeque Nation. They invited our children to the inauguration of their new restaurant in Gurgaon.
11. Christmas Day Celebration Christmas was celebrated at the Centre. Children participated in Christmas carols and Dance.
12. State Championship of Power Lifting Our four children participated in the State Championship of Power Lifting organized by Special Olympics Bharat at Tau Devi Lal Stadium.

• Parents from the economically lower strata are unable to guide and take care of their children at home.
• It is difficult to take children online because of severe disabilities, so we are guiding the parents only.

Aim for the next six months

We will organize more counselling sessions for the parents to work with their children.

Now the COVID situation returning to normalcy, our trained staff will provide the required life skills and therapeutic services to all the children at the Centre.

Ankit Bharadwaj, 22yrs/male, joined Khushboo on November 07, 2007. His initial diagnosis was Mental Retardation. Initially, he had speech problems and could only say "mama and papa." He expresses his needs, sometimes through gestures, and is totally dependent on his parents for the activities of daily living. Initially, his fine motor skills were poor, and he was not even able to break a piece of bread. He had some physiotherapy needs at the time of joining.

Now he is able to speak short words and also asks for the things he needs. With continued occupational therapy, his fine motor skills improved and now he is able to eat independently, take off shirt buttons and make paper envelopes too. He helps his mother in household activities like dusting, folding of clothes, making of the bed, preparing fruit chaat; chana chaat; sandwich and helps in serving drinks to the guests. He is able to do flower cutting, which is further used for making natural colours. He loves to watch and play football. He completed 22 years of age and his parents decided to keep him at home as he helps his mother in day-to-day activities.

1. Lohri Celebration: Lohri was celebrated in the centre by doing traditional pooja and bonfire.2) Staff Training: Staff training was conducted on “Assessment and Sports Skill Evaluation” by Sports Instructor.3) Republic Day Celebration: National flag was hoisted at the centre on the occasion of Republic Day. Children with their parents participated in the celebration online.4) Sports and Play activities: Sports Instructor conducted training on the assessment of children and started doing sports activities with children. He is visiting fortnightly to guide the Educators.5) Workshop on Adolescence: A workshop was held at the centre on Adolescence (IAHW).6) Workshop on wheelchair handling & Transfer techniques: Our Occupational therapists, Mr Abhimanyu Verma and Mr Ranjeet Mishra organized a workshop on wheelchair handling and transfer techniques for the staff. 7) Medical Camp: A medical camp was organized at the centre in which 8 children with neurological conditions were attended by Pediatric Neurologist.8) SPLASH Event: Our 6 children participated in “SPLASH”, a non-competitive painting event for children with disabilities organized by Concern India Foundation. 9) Meeting with National Trust: All issues related to disabilities covered under the National Trust were discussed in the meeting.

We thankfully did not face any challenges due to Covid19. We have trained professionals to work with children with disabilities and all of them were able to navigate through any tough time or situation.

Impact story from the ground:Rahul Kumar Muni, 15yrs/male, joined Khushboo on 18th Dec 2013.His initial diagnosis was Autism Spectrum Disorder. He has a low attention span, no eye contact with people. He has problems with personal skills as well as in Behavior. He cannot sit for long on an activity. He is dependent on his parents for all the day to day activities. He has sensory issues like Tactile defensiveness, difficulty with loud noises, unusual touching, touch processing, auditory processing, proprioceptive issues and modulation related to these areas.Now Rahul has improved in his social skills and he can follow instructions. He replies to the Namaste by bowing his head and joining his hands. He has improved his personal skills too and now he can wash his face and hands by himself. He has started combing his hair independently and he can do all his toilet-related activities by himself. He helps his mother in dusting the table and chair. He is now able to take his meals independently. In this pandemic, Rahul had lost his father due to covid. Rahul has a younger sister of 6 years of age. His mother is a housewife.

Activities\Events\Celebrations from April-Dec 2020

During the lockdown period we are trying to boost the imagination and creativity of all the children of Khushboo. Our children are receiving one-on-one or group intervention through the online programs.
Our team members are putting their energy into setting up running our services virtually: Life Skill Training, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Speech & Language Therapy. We were connected with the parents and children through WhatsApp from April to June.
We had started to take online sessions from July 2020.

Awareness & Precautions of Covid-19
A meeting was arranged by the Director-Programs regarding the awareness & precautions to be taken to control the spread of COVID 19.

Meeting with Staff
Regular meetings were arranged by the Director-Programs in which Educators and Therapists were asked to prepare their teaching & training plans for online sessions on zoom.

Training on Zoom sessions:
Staff training was organized on online sessions. A trial zoom session was held for the staff to make them understand various controls in zoom application.

Staff Training
Staff trainings were organized during the period:

•    Storytelling: How to engage children with disabilities
  

  
  



•    Learning Process
  

  
  



•    Motor activity training program
  

  
  



•    Online staff training was arranged on Guidance & counseling. Dr. Mousumi Bhaumik, Ph. D. (Special Education) was the resource person.
  

  
  

Feedback online session with the parents:
Feedback and suggestions were taken from the parents regarding online sessions taken by the Educators and the Therapists. We are modifying the sessions according to the feedback and suggestions from the parents.

Legal Guardianship issued to Four Applicants:
Now we are the NGO member of the Local Level Committee (National Trust) for the District Gurgaon. We have the responsibility to make home visits to verify the documents of the applicants. Khushboo has started this activity and has already helped 4 eligible applicants to get the Legal Guardianship Certificate.

Independence Day was celebrated in the Centre. National flag was hoisted by the President (Khushboo) in the presence of all the employees. All the safety measures were taken care at the time of flag hoisting. Children with their parents participated in the celebration online.

Medical Consultation for Orthopaedic and Neurological Conditions:
Medical consultation was organised on Zoom. 5 children with their parents were attended by Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon Dr. Sanjay Sarup.

A Medical consultation was organised on Zoom. 5 children with their parents were attended by Paediatric Neurologist Dr. Pooja G. Kapoor.

November 20th 2020: Khushboo Silver Jubilee Celebration
An online Event was organized to celebrate the Silver Jubilee Year of Khushboo. A Panel discussion was arranged on the topic “The Challenges faced by persons with disability and their families”.
Moderator and panelists were from Corporate and Government. Parents and donors were the participants.

International day of disabled persons and International Human Rights Day

Khushboo Celebrates International day of disabled persons and International Human Rights Day through a week-long celebration which culminates with an event on December 10-2019 and includes;

• Exhibition of entries to the inter-school painting competition on the theme of Inclusion and opportunities for persons with disability.
• A walkthrough of the Khushboo programme
• An entertaining fun Quiz for Corporates on disability
• Cultural performance by students of Khushboo & GMRV Foundation
• Address by the Chief Guest
• Prize distribution for the award-winning paintings.
• Vote of thanks

Program Update

We celebrated festivals like Republic Day and Holi. In the month of March we celebrated 23rd Annual Day of Khushboo. Children presented various cultural programs. 2 Medical camps were also organized in this quarter. Our children also participated in Athlete leadership training camp organized by Special Olympics Bharat. They also participated in Art workshop “A Canvas of Expression”. 20 of our children participated in painting and Drawing competition organized by Concern India Foundation. For the next quarter, new goals will be set for the beneficiaries and also a workshop will be planned for the parents to understand their children.

Story from the field

Ravishanker Patel is a child with Cerebral Palsy, joined Khushboo’s program in April’17. He had problem in eating, standing and holding objects. He was also dependent on his parents for Activities of Daily living (ADLs). He comes to school on the school bus.
Special Educators and Therapists analyzed his challenges and started Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Special Education. The focus was on providing training on ADLs to make child self- dependent. Now with regular therapeutic intervention he is able to walk with the help of rollater and he is also able to maintain standing position independently for 7-10 seconds. He is now able to stand in upright posture which indicates overall improvement in muscle tone. He is also able to perform activities in sitting position without any physical assistance. His left upper limbs strength is improving as he is using it for performing few activities like picking up. Training to Ravishanker’s parent has also been given by special educators to guide and monitor the child at home.
Now he has started to do scribbling with thick crayon colors and performs action with rhymes.
He recognizes his family, teachers and classmates. He also speaks few words like “Mama, Papa, Dedo and Ma’am”. He also enjoys playing with ball.

Program Update

We work with children such as Cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, Autism, Mental Retardation.
Our Programmes include Life Skills Development and therapeutic services such as Physiotherapy, Occupational therapy, Speech therapy & Psychotherapy. We work with children in the following areas to teach them skills which enable them to handle personal needs on their own. Activities of Daily Living, Interpersonal Skills, Personal Safety and Security, Home management & Housekeeping, Cooking & Catering, Education ( 3 R's), Computers, Gardening, Art & Craft.
We have added one more mini bus to make commuting of children easy. Now 75 children are using the transportation facility.

Story from the field

Anmol Sharma is a 19 years old boy with Down syndrome. He was admitted to Khushboo due to his sub- average intellectual functioning and adaptive skills. At the time of admission he was fully dependent on his parents for Activities of daily living. His communication skills and social skills were also not age appropriate.
After detailed assessment by our multidisciplinary team, a management plan was developed for him.
He is now fully independent in all the activities of daily living (including dressing and grooming) and can take care of himself. He has even successfully passed an 18 month 'Ability Enhancement Multimedia Program' certified from AIIMS Multimedia and has learnt Basics of Computer, Coral Draw, Photoshop and other advanced computer program as a part of the course curriculum. He has also represented 'Khushboo' in Special Olympics and other National Sports Events. Now he also participates in cultural programs. Recently he has won Gold medal in District and Silver medal at State level Games for Badminton.
He is now in the Vocational group and has learnt to serve tea and cut vegetables.
Donation for Anmol would help 'Khushboo' to provide holistic services to children with special abilities.

Khushboo student Priyanka Hasija won 2 gold medals in National Championship of Powerlifting.

The Annual Art competition-VSA has the participation of 7 children from KWS. Kunal Chauhan and Priyanka Hasija won the 2nd prize in 23rd Annual Art Competition in March 2017, organized by Very Special Art India.

The Day breaker Half Marathon saw the participation of three Khushboo students and the Unified Football Games-SOB has two children participating.

The Day breaker Half Marathon saw the participation of three Khushboo students and the Unified Football Games-SOB has two children participating.

Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami, Independence Day, Dusshera, Diwali, Children’s Day and Christmas were all celebrated, where children performed cultural programs.

Khushboo Carnival had fun events like a puppet show, magic show and tattoo painting which the children enjoyed.