Catching up!

1July 2014

TheUmmeedUpdate

What we’ve been up too so far this yearAre we half-­‐way through the year? Seems like so much longer! Each day at Ummeed brings anew challenge, a new story of hope. Each day brings exciting programmes to address differentdisabilities, train more practitioners in the field, make a more inclusive school system and addto international research on disabilities.To keep you updated on the year so far in this brief communication is to try to fit the world inthe palm of your hand! Then again, at Ummeed, we’re always pushing the odds.

So here it is, our first half-­‐yearly newsletter that paints a picture of our world for you.

Enjoy!

Vibha

Perhaps one of the most daunting issues for children with

The Big News!The E-fication of UmmeedIf you tried to find us online in the past and weredisappointed, worry not. This year we are delighted toannounce that we have gotten ourselves all spruced upand out there on the net. Check out our net activities:

A day in the life at Ummeed, real stories, workshopannouncements, support and tips – lots more on ournew revamped FB page.

Get support and share stories on the blog run by theMental Health (MH) team

And of course there is our spanking new website thathas all the latest on our services and activities.

Ummeed Goes to School

Hope to see you at:

https://www.facebook.com/CDC.Ummeed

http://narrativetherapyindia.com/

www.ummeed.org

Batting for Child

disabilities and their families is schooling and coping withthe school system. The competitive nature of entrancetests; coping with the academic demands of the school;bullying and exclusion are issues that these childrenand their families face daily. Once in the school system –whether public or private – families need ongoing supportfor a variety of issues.

Ummeed has now set up a School Outreach Team that willaddress these very pressing concerns. The team is the firstof its kind in the city and will be engaged in buildingmodels of appropriate schooling support for children with

disabilities through direct services, training and advocacy.

The School Outreach Team will work

To address school-related mental health and educationalneeds of children and families.

To respond to the needs of families and schools by liaisingwith schools to facilitate inclusion.

To actively engage in advocacy for children with disabilityand their families within the school system.

To build capacity in the school system to facilitateinclusion.

RightsWe did something prettyimportant on this year’sWorld Autism Day (April2nd). Dr VibhaKrishnamurthy along withParul Kumtha, Forum forAutism founder andmember of Ummeed'sschool outreach team,released the Charter ofRights for Childrenwith Autism.

This was drawn up amidstgrowing concerns over themaltreatment of childrenwith disabilities, especiallythose with Autism, in schoolsand in therapy centres.Forum For Autism is anactive local parent supportgroup.

2

Autism Intervention explores newdirectionsHow many ways are there for children with autism to develop to theirfull potential, and for us to help their families? Lots and lots is thebelief of our Autism Intervention team. The team mentored byDolores Scheelen from Medford, OR, came up with pilots of twoexciting new programs that deal with different aspects ofintervention.

TeamUpdates

Catch the action asall our teams

expand the scope ofUmmeed’s services

for varied users.

Social Thinking Group addressed one ofthe most difficult challenges for our childrenon the autism spectrum - Social thinking orrecognizing and acknowledging others’thoughts and feelings, and changing our ownbehaviour accordingly. This pilot, based onMichelle Garcia Winner’s program TheIncredible Flexible You! worked with a groupof four boys between 4 and 7 years to learnto ‘feel feelings’, ‘think with their eyes’ and‘be in the group’, all through stories, art andcraft activities and pretend play.

Another group used TEACCH methods to helpchildren with autism learn from the environmentand promote independence, through structuredteaching and visual supports. A TEACCH classroomor group is divided into different sections whichtarget various skills, which the child moves throughusing visual cues.

And of course UPPA, the very popularUmmeed Parent Program for Autism (UPPA)was also conducted in April and May. Eightfamilies learned how to get their children toattend to them, and build on their engagementand communication skills – all through play.

Occupational Therapy (OT)Some old, some new but all very relevant - the Occupational Therapy team has been on a roll.

Early Intervention Centre (EIC) - This one-of-a-kind early childhood programme forchildren with a range of disabilities aims toprepare children for mainstreamschool. It also empowers parents to work withthem effectively. This year the EIC is runningto full capacity with 7 students each in twobatches. The EIC is sponsored by theMumbai Indians team under their initiative‘Education For All’.

Early Childhood Developmentand Disability Training -Occupational therapists AnushreeSane, Santosh Sintre and RavirajShetty along DevelopmentalPediatrician Dr.Riddhi Mehtaconducted three trainingprograms in early childhooddevelopment for communityworkers supported by AmbujaCement foundation, SETCO andForbes Marshall foundation.

Happy Hands Club and The HandwritingTraining Group – This one’s a brand newinitiative. It is a play based family centeredhandwriting training group focused onenhancing prerequisite skills for writing andcursive script. Thirteen children between theages 3-10 with varied developmentaldisabilities graduated from this group in the last6 months.

Happy Hands Club and TheHandwriting Training Group

3

Participants - Mental Heath Training Programme(MHTP) 2014

TeamUpdates

Catch the action asall our teams

expand the scope ofUmmeed’s services

for varied users.

Mental Health (MH)Team MH continued to point new directions in mental health and counselling with lots ofinitiatives to promote professional growth in the field.

On the blog!

The MH’s latest offering is a brand new blog that aims to share and explore narrative practices(an approach to counselling that we use) in the Indian context. The blog will be a platform forprofessionals all over India using narrative practices, to connect; to share stories of workingwith children, individuals and families; to learn different ways in which we use this approachwithin our culture; to share updates about various training programs in the country and to shareonline resources. Go on, take a peek at http://narrativetherapyindia.com/

Training from a Mental Health Perspective

Jill Sanghvi and Parul Kumtha facilitated a workshop on counselling using Cognitive BehavioralTherapy (CBT) based principles for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Twentythree professionals from different organizations and schools like The Orchid School (Pune), NSSHillspring International School, KEM hospital, Enliven Therapy Center, etc. attended. Onpopular demand the Mental Health team intends to run this training bi-annually.

Mental Heath Training Programme (MHTP)

Ms. Shona Russell from Narrative Practices, Adelaide and the Ummeed team taught the firstblock of Ummeed’s MHTP. This very popular annual programme, which is sponsored by theNarotam Sekhsaria Foundation, had 15 participants from varied organizations such as Dilassa,Arpan, The Orchid School, The Anchorage etc.

Introducing Narrative Theory

Maggie Carey from Narrative Practices, Adelaide conducted a workshop on Using NarrativeTherapy in Counselling with Children. The approach is an effective way of working withchildren with varied concerns such as mental health issues, ADHD, LD, Autism etc. Thisapproach is a respectful, non-blaming approach that allows the child and therapist tounderstand the problem and its effects and to collaboratively come up with relevant solutions.

4

from across the world. Adaprogramme coaches pareand social skills in young c

Developmental Disabilities – Creating AwarenessAcross the country, our paediatricians and senior therapists interacted with peers, otherprofessionals and parents to provide the right information and create awareness on developmentaldisabilitiesDr.Roopa Srinivasan conducted an awareness building workshop in Chennai for paediatricians,medical students and obstetricians in tertiary care hospitals on Fragile X Syndrome inJanuary. She shared Ummeed's expertise in working with children with Fragile X Syndrome andalso sensitised the audience to genetic implications of the condition on the child and family.

Dr Leera Lobo and Dr Roopa Srinivasan conducted an awareness building workshop on Autismfor pediatricians and general practitioners in Pune. The event was organised by Indian MedicalAssociation (IMA), Pune

Drs Roopa Srinivasan and Saadiyah Merchant (OT) conducted a seminar with the Fragile XSociety of India on Fragile X Syndrome for parents and professionals in Baroda. Parents andprofessionals shared ideas on intervention strategies at the event; they also facilitated theformation of a local parent support group.

Dr Anjali Joshi conducted a CME for occupational therapists at the All India OccupationalTherapists Association conference in Bhubaneswar on A Trans-Disciplinary Approach: A NewDimension to OT Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Ummeedkars Shine!

Occupational Therapist Raviraj Shetty’s research paper The MagicalPouch program: A single system study of Modified Constraint InducedMovement Therapy and Bimanual training in a Child with UnilateralSpastic Cerebral Palsy was awarded Kailash Merchant Trophy for bestpaper in neurosciences at the 51st All India Occupational TherapistsAssociation in Bhubaneswar. It was published in The Indian Journalof Occupational Therapy. Occupational Therapist Santosh Shintre alsopresented a paper “Lets Play, Lets Talk ; A Play based Family CenteredGroup Intervention for Children with Social Skills deficit”.

Dr Koyeli Sengupta received a Diversity award from the InternationalSociety of Autism Research (INSAR) to attend the annual meeting forautism research (IMFAR) held in Atlanta, USA. Dr. Sengupta presenteda poster on Ummeed's Parent Program for Autism to 1800 delegatespted from psychologist Brooke Ingersoll's Project ImPact, this

nts to use simple strategies within daily activities to promote languagehildren with autism.

Dr Anjali Joshi presented a paper titled ChildDevelopment Aide Program - a model forcommunity based early Intervention in low andmiddle income countries at the 16th internationalcongress of World Federation of OccupationalTherapists held in Yokohama, Japan.

5

Dr Koyeli Sengupta

Raviraj Shetty

The Fun Stuff!

55 Km Walk ForUmmeed 2014Goa

36 walkers

Reached 528 individuals

Raised 1, 03, 72, 885 rupees!

Thirty six enthusiastic friends of Ummeed took to thebeaches on January 11, 2014. They spent the dayenergetically attempting to walk 55 kms on the pristinebeach in Goa to raise funds and create awareness forUmmeed. And boy, did they succeed! Of the 36 participants13 walkers completed the entire 55 Kms and19 walkerswalked between 32 and 44Kms. Kms.

Our walkers said…"Thanks for a wonderfulexperience -- finished 55km and really tested thelimits of my endurance!"

"Enjoyed every moment ofthe trip and felt trulyeuphoric when I managedto complete the entire walk.More power to all of you!"

"A truly amazing experiencefor me .....getting out of mycomfort zone, realizing theimmense potential withinand now wanting to tap it tothe fullest ."

THE NEXT WALK IN GOA WILLBE HELD ON 17th JANUARY,2015.

To register please mailpoonam.sanghvi@ummeed.orgOR john.thattil@ummeed.org

IPL 2014One hundred and twenty six(126) beneficiaries of Ummeedincluding children, parents andUmmeed volunteers werethrilled to attend the MumbaiIndians match on May 3,2014sponsored by the RelianceFoundation

“ My kids were very excited to have such an amazingexperiences to attend the live IPL match at Wankhedestadium. Unforgettable memories! We thank Mrs. Ambaniand the Mumbai Indians team” Ms. Sangeeta Khanna

“ My child Sanket is crazy about cricket and loves to comefor the IPL match through Ummeed and feels very proud of it!Unfortunately he was unable to thank Sachin in person for theautographed pair of gloves given to him by Sachin. Thankyou Mumbai Indians and Ummeed.” Ms. Sheetal Gala

And then there was this – one of our coolest eventsForum For Autism and Ummeed stunned commuters on Mumbai’s busy central line byorganizing a flash mob at CST station. This was done as part of the nation-wide flash mob stir toring out Autism Awareness month on 27 April 2014. As an awareness initiative, it wasdefinitely successful – we got great coverage in the press including major dailies likeHindustan times, DNA, Indian Express and Pudhari.

6

A Big Thank You!INDIVIDUAL DONORSSpecial thanks to all our individual donors

and supporters, including the36 participants in the 55 Km Walk forUmmeed 2014 and their supporters.

CORPORATE DONORSTata HousingGroupM and its EmployeesJ.M.FinancialsEmerald Palms Resort, GoaTaj Exotica

FOUNDATION & TRUSTSA.H.Wadia TrustCAF UKGive IndiaNarotam Seksharia FoundationMumbai Indians - Reliance FoundationSilicon Valley Foundation

COLLABORATING INSTITUTIONSTata Institute of Social SciencesNarrative Practices, Adelaide, AustraliaReauthoring Teaching, VermontYale University, USA

Forum For Autism and Ummeed flash mob atMumbai CST station

55 KM Walk for Ummeed 2014Goa

Ummeed at IPL 2014

In Closing...

Every year the number of children and adults whocome to Ummeed grows. Our commitment to ourchildren and the expertise of our staff helps us copeand fuels the hope.

2012-13 2013-14

No of visits 6029 7458

No of concessional visits 3501 4642

No of professionals 49 51