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With the ultimate goal of inclusion, Satya’s efforts toward inclusive education start as soon as a child is diagnosed with a disability/neurodiversity. From an inclusive pre-school and an ability-specific school, to school readiness programs within government schools for effective inclusion, Satya works toward creating models that positively impact all stakeholders. As a start, Satya’s interventions have yielded promising results.

Centre for Multiple Disabilities

Alternative Inclusive Centre for Education (AICE) is an experimental inclusive school, where children from disadvantaged situations (street children, school dropouts, gypsy children, children of people in conflict with the law) study with children with special needs following an “ability specific” curriculum, not an age-specific one.

For children with disadvantageous backgrounds this is a place of acceptance where their past or their background does not define them, leaving them to pursue their education without stigma. Many children have gone to complete their schooling through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) from Class 10 and Class 12.

Village Rehabilitation Centres

Village centres were set up with a mission to provide state of the art rehabilitation facility to rural children with special needs.

The centres provide physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, speech therapy, training for activities for daily living, accessible outdoor play equipment and a kitchen with dining hall to serve nutritious food for children. The centre is a model of change for the lives of many deprived rural children.

The children of all the village rehabilitation centres are given therapies based on their needs, medical check-ups on periodical basis, are taken for outings to different accessible sights, training programmes for parents to understand the needs of their child, awareness raising campaigns and a regular interaction with parents on the child’s progress. A quarterly assessment of the children is also done to evaluate child’s progress and the same is discussed with parents every quarter to improve the child’s performance and condition.

Satellite Centres

Satellite centres are independent centres in rural areas, providing therapy and education to children with special needs. These centres are managed by partners of Satya Special School, using the tried and tested Satya model of rehabilitation. The focus in these centres is to include children in mainstream schools.

Satellite centres are unique in their contextual approach to disability management, and strong local support. The eventual vision for satellite centres is for them to evolve into independent centres, with Satya providing knowledge support where required.

Alternative Inclusive Centre for Education

A bold experiment in inclusion, where neurotypical children from marginalized backgrounds such as children of commercial sex workers, orphan children, etc., who have dropped out of the school system study with neurodiverse children in an ability-specific classroom.

The results have been phenomenal with several children “finding their groove” in a particular scholastic level. The children take up board examinations under NIOS. Many of them have gone on to receive their diplomas, while others undertake gainful employment outside the Satya system.

Inclusive Pre-School

In partnership with Sristi Foundation, Satya set up Sristi Inclusive Pre-School, an inclusive space where all children—disabled, neurodiverse, non-disabled, and neurotypical—learnt and played together. This is the first step towards an inclusive society, and Satya is constantly looking for ways to integrate children with special needs into mainstream schools.

The entire process has given us a lot of lessons and insights into how we can make this work.

Statistics

1

inclusive government school

in which Satya has a program

6

centres

exclusively for remote rural areas

50

children

mainstreamed in schools

News & Events
Success stories

Curious about inclusion

Satya project to enrich lives of all children

Satya’s Pollachi centre head wins award!

Ms. Savitha honoured with Role Model award

Shopper's Stop --from VRC!

Today, 18-year-old S. Vengatesh, of our Muttrampet Village Resource Centre, sits in his shop, talking to his customers and counting out change. He has been successfully running the shop since April, with the help of his mother and siblings. Vengatesh has been a student at Satya for the past ten years, and his father, the sole breadwinner (until the petty shop), works at a jewellery store. No one would have known he would be running a shop when he was participating in the centre’s World Consumer Rights Day program in March, where the staff set up a mock petty shop, to make the students understand the concept of weights and measures, and expiry date. That night, he told his parents his intention: he wanted to start a petty shop. His supportive family decided to take the plunge and set a shop up for him. He loves his new business and his father, Shanmugam, says that apart from certain physical fine motor activities like handing over eggs to customers, he is able to do everything on his own. The community too, supports Vengatesh’s shop! R. Kalaiyarasan, in charge of the Muttrampet centre, says that Vengatesh was always good in maths, and did not enjoy some of the other vocational activities that we tried, such as agriculture. “We are so proud of him. It was a surprise to me as well, that he took to the shop concept so well! In fact, his shop is modelled similar to our mock shop,” he says. Another Satya youth moves towards self-reliance!

“They were tears of joy!”

Vishnu Karan went home one day and asked his mother for a pain relieving spray. When she asked why he wanted it, he revealed that he had walked at Satya Special School’s Pollachi Centre for the first time! His mother cried tears of joy that day. Vishnu, who has cerebral palsy, came to Satya in 2019 as a five-year-old, when he would only move by crawling. Three years and some intense therapy later, he took his first steps. Vishnu’s father is an auto driver and his mother works in a coir mill. “I have always been running for work, work, work, and am so thankful to Satya for the way they have worked with Vishnu,” she says, in an emotional audio note.

Successfully mainstreamed Rithiga!

Ask Rithiga, 6, which school she likes more and pat comes the answer: Satya Special School, and Maha miss! But then, it has not been long since she was integrated into the Saraswathi Aided Primary School at Palapadikuppam. Rithiga has mild cerebral palsy and locomotor disability, and is in a wheelchair. She came to Satya’s Muttrampet VRC referred by JIPMER in 2015, and at that stage she could not sit properly or walk. With therapy, she is able to sit, and tries walking with support. She has also started using her left hand. With normal cognition and verbal abilities, we knew right away that Ritika could be mainstreamed. Our plan was based on that goal, and with the support of the local primary school, Rithiga started attending Class 1 at the mainstream school in 2022, and also comes to Satya Special School for therapy. “Without Satya Special School being near us, we could never have brought Rithiga to this level,” says her mother, Gnanasoundhari, whose husband is a daily wage earner.

Anita's ordeal and recovery

AICE is not just about learning, it has been a place for learners to access all possible help navigating their difficult circumstances. Anita* is a 20-year-old girl living near Pondicherry. We first got to know her when she visited our village centre remedial classes as a slow learner. Even as she was uncommunicative, she was able to handle academics, and so, we moved her to AICE. One of our salient features is our alternative therapy models, like art, drama, and music therapy, which we use across all our centres. In art therapy, Anita expressed herself with vigour and we realized the extent of her trauma. She had been sexually abused by her own father. We counselled her, and tried to get her to slowly open up and gave her the tools to deal with her emotions. Today, Anita is a young woman who is looking forward to completing her diploma and taking up a rewarding career. Taking the time off to heal oneself, and studying at one’s own pace can help all children, and can also be used in mainstream education.

Most Enthusiastic; Ravimathi

Ravimathi, 18, is in our Centre for Multiple Disabilities and getting ready for her NIOS exams. You’ll see her either preparing for the exam, or for one of various cultural events: dance, or mime, or quiz! Once a week, you can catch Ravimathi at the Makerspace, where she and four others learn to experiment and learn in an open inclusive space. “She is very interested in making things out of waste,” says Ms. K. Nirmala, centre in-charge. “And in knowing about computers.” Ravimathi wasn’t always like this, though. When she arrived at the centre, nearly four years ago, she was very shy. Her stutter made things even more difficult for her, and she would not speak with anyone. With constant encouragement, she is now the first to volunteer for any event. She was worried that she wouldn’t be able to manage English, and declined to attempt NIOS; however, with the advice of the teachers at the Centre for Multiple Disabilities, she is trying that too. “She is one of our most enthusiastic students now,” says Ms. Nirmala.

Inclusive Education