Success Stories

The tireless efforts of the special educators and caretakers under the guidance of Ms. Manjulaa Kalyaan coupled with effective behavior management strategies helped her to transform into a productive member of the society. Ammi had no aptitude towards education, hence more emphasis was laid on developing employability skills. Functional academics were introduced and she was put in vocational training.

The first breakthrough towards economic empowerment came through in the year 2001 when she was selected and recruited at Food World. She worked there for a period of two years. She was then moved to Taj Krishna Hotel for a higher salary. She made a name for herself there and Ammi was the most loved person in the Department of Housekeeping. Due to policy issues, she could not continue at Taj Krishna.

She also assists the special educators wherever necessary. Recently, at the 9-days sports camp held at Gachibowli, she assisted the special educator in taking care of Swayamkrushi students. Swayamkrushi also nurtured her leisure time skills of singing, dancing,

Ammi’s transformation is not complete. There is still resistance from her side and need firm instructions. Ammi’s ambition is to head a group home. A few years down the lane we are sure her ambition will come true. Ammi is a true inspiration for many more students and special educators.

She has the ability to dance and sing. She participated in all the cultural programmes organised by Swayamkrushi and shown her ability in dancing and singing. She is also good at tailoring her stitches Jute bags, cloth bags and also do embroidery. Gayatri will also assist the caregivers in the group home by helping their peers. She also participates in March fast in Republic day every year in special contingent.

Ms.Sharadha is very pleasant looking, has a neat appearance .She is fond of dancing, loves to watch Telugu films and serials. In the group home, she is a very co-operative inmate and is a great help to the caregivers who train them in household and domestic chores. After seeing Ammi and Sharada participating in all activities and getting fame. She motivated and wants to participate cultural programmes and sports activities. She is good at stitching, and she can do all especially mirror work. Now she independently can prepare a bag with mirrors and beads. Sharada is now participating in the sports events organized by SOB.

Shravan Signh is a 24 years old young man afflicted with cerebral palsy and epilepsy. In spite of the fact that his left leg and left hand are affected he is quite independent and is a very well-behaved person. Sharavan is friendly, and is very tidy. He joined Swayamkrushi in the year 2004. His parents took very good care of him at home and provided great support at the Institute too. He was given good opportunities to better himself in all walks of life. He has appeared for SSC and cleared the exam successfully. Later he was coached to do his Intermediate exam and cleared those exams with the help of a scribe. He is slow but he would always finish the task given to him. He is trained to look after the files in the office at Swayamkrushi. He not only files the papers in the respective folders, but also issues to staff whenever a need arises. He knows the file numbers as indicated in the index chart, and without referring any chart he picks them up and maintains the log book very nicely.  He readily volunteers to help his colleagues and maintains a cordial relationship with all at work. His work habits are worth mentioning. He writes small stories about environment (how to keep healthy environments) and loves to direct plays. He is an active member of Swayamkrushi Drama Club.  Though it is tough for him, he participates in the Republic Day Parade every year with great enthusiasm and feels very proud of his participation. When asked what are his future plans, he says he wants to start I.T.S (Indian Teaching Service). He says that there is a dearth of good Special Educators and hence the idea of staring I.T.S. We at Swayamkrushi are very proud to have such a colleague and we strongly recommended him for the award under the Best Individual Category – Male.

1982. V. N. Bharath was born on 26/12/1982. Now he is 30 years old. He was born through forceps delivery with a delayed birth cry – he did not cry as soon as he was born. He was put in an incubator for three days. He started having fits by the age of five months and he was not having the normal developmental milestones such as holding his head, or recognising people etc. He always looked at one side only. When he started having fits, he was shown to Dr. Hanumantha Rao, who examined him and diagnosed him with mild mental retardation with cerebral palsy and vision problem. He advised physiotherapy for Bharat Kumar and also an eye check up. The physiotherapist advised him to have spinalcord and neck support, and prescribed a special chair with neck and back correction.

The boy was unable to sit and stand. So, we used a special chair which gives support to his spinalcord. We took special care for three years at home. The child got physiotherapy for one year. Due to financial problems, I stopped to visit the physiotherapy center and I started giving physiotherapy and intervention at home. He was taken to Sarojini Eye Hospital for an eye test as Dr. Hanumantha Rao said he might be having eye sight problem and colour blindness. For overcoming the vision problem doctors advised the child to be in colourful surroundings with colourful clothes, toys, etc. This practice was followed and also exercises were continued for the next 3 to 4 years. The seizures subsided after a year. When the boy was five years old and started speaking with small words, and mostly played by himself without mingling with his peer group, we admitted him at a normal school. He learnt well and answered all questions orally, but was unable to write much. He was able to recite rhymes and small poems nicely. Whenever music was heard from outside, he used to put his head to the wall and listen to that music and showed much interest in it. This way he came up to 5th class in normal school. But suddenly he started having fits again which brought about many changes in him. Therefore, he was removed from that regular school and was admitted at Thakur Hariprasad Institute for the Mentally Challenged, Hyderabad.  There he was trained for one year. Due to the distance problem, he was again admitted in the nearby Shradha Special School in 1997.

He was given training at NIMH, Secunderabad to participate in sports on a weekly basis. He got first prize in the music competition on World Disability Day, 1998.  After that he got many prizes in singing competitions through his grasping power of lyrics and music. In 2003 he joined for vocational training at Sri Guru Sankalpam Special School. There he was trained in making files, phenyl, cleaning powder and paper plates. Bharath participated in INAS-FID at JAPAN in 2002 as a football player and his team got 16^th  place. Later on, he participated in many games and sports events and got many prizes and medals. Bharath received Best Student and Best Sports awards from Shri Guru Sankalpam Special School. Bharath also went to Greece and participated in Special Olympics World Summer Games held in Athens. He got 4th, 5th and 7th places in cycling events. Bharath participated in PARIVAAR programmes. He gives vocational training to his peers.