“I was born in this wonderful world like every one else. But my parents did not rejoice. Rather, they grieved. Why! You may ask. .....you see, people call me mentally retarded. If some error of nature occurred when I was growing in my mother’s womb, was that my fault? I am not like majority of people in terms of my physique or intellect? Being different is not a crime. I too have feelings and aspirations. I too need love and recognition like all of you. I do have a right to live a respectful life! need to be as self reliant as possible and work and earn like every one else! Then why do I get only neglect, cold responses and ridicule?”
That is the story of many intellectually challenged people who are commonly referred to as’mentally retarded’. The irony is that they live in a world where norms are created by the majority and they have to face difficulties and challenges at every turn of their lives. We, as teachers and parents, who have had the chance to share the experiences and everyday challenges faced by persons with intellectual disability, often undergo a kind of inner transformation.
They teach us some valuable lessons of simplicity, cooperation, mutual care and support. Their capacity for love and happiness is very touching and inspiring. In order to create a beautiful world where everyone can live with respect and dignity, we must all extend a hand of friendship and support to each and every person. Don’t you think so?
Umang is an aspiration of sheer will, determination and unwavering optimism of a group of parents and teachers. It brings out huge reservior of energies from within. It started as a loosely built group of parents and professionals unsure about the future, but had a mission in sight. The mission was to create a need based service centre for people with intellectual disability and their parents. It was very clear from the beginning that these intellectually disabled children needed education , training and opportunities for growth and development which was not easily available at that time in West Delhi. It was also realised that parents also needed a support system be it emotional or educational knowledge for upbringing of their children. However the path undertaken was full of challenges and every step and every year taught us few new things, some new directions and to mention some small but
We started as Umang Special Child Care Society but few years later renamed it as Umang Learning Centre, C/o Bosco Welfare Society. The reason for this change was to broaden the scope of our services. As we are situated in main stream school, our endeavour is to provide all the needed facilities to our children in best interactive environment with main stream children. Like other organisations go through various stages of growth and development, we also underwent from 1 child in starting to almost 40 children in 2011. We have a wonderful team of teachers (special educators), students, parents, volunteers, occupational therapists, speech therapists, counselors and doctors who are making immense contribution in defining the future path for Umang. We are very conscious that our work is like a drop in the ocean, but a very precious and valuable drop, as it has provided new meaning to our professionals, managements, students and parents has laid a surer ground to work on and opened our eyes for the huge task that lies ahead in the field.
It has been mesmerizing to see the way a group of people supported each other, believed in their dreams gave positive feed back. We should marvel at the tireless efforts of this small group of people who wanted to improve the status of these special children. No better resources than will power and determination got us this unbelievable conviction that has changed our dreams to having a learning centre in main school into reality. Today Umang stands as a testimony to their indomitable spirit, their abiding faith in the power of individuals and in the hidden potential of children whom we want to help. We aspire and dream for an inclusive society where norms and facilities are avated keeping in mind all the individuals so that people with challenges also could become contributing members of the society and lead a life with respect and dignity.
AIDS TO FACILITATE LEARNING IN CHILDREN
1. Special Education
2. Occupational Therapy
3. Speech / Hearing Aids
4. Pre-vocational : Computers, Candle, Rangoli, Cooking, Clay
5. Activities
6. Sports : Swimming, Skating, Football
7. Leisure activities : Gardening, Dance, Music, Night Camp
8. Vocational and Guidance Training
Bosco Educational Welfare Society (Regd.)
Mrs. Mukta Misra
BA., B.Ed., MA (Eco) & English, M.Ed., M.B.A.
Ex. Principal (BPS)
Manager, Bosco Public School
........................................
Mr. Sahil
Senior Consultant COLT India
........................................
Ms. Vandana
Sr. Special Educator
........................................
Dr. Richa
Sr. Occupational Therapist, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital
........................................
Dr. Praveen Suman
Pediatrician, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
........................................
Dr. Sona
Sr. Occupational Therapist, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital
........................................
Mrs. Esha Duggal
Incharge cum Co-ordinator BA. B.Ed. (Spl.)
Umang Learning Centre
The journey from the starting till now has been challenging, difficult and complex yet very fruitful encouraging, passionate and rewarding. It has been mesmerizing to see the way a group of people supported each other, believed in their dreams gave positive feed back. We should marvel at the tireless efforts of this small group of people who wanted to improve the status of these special children. No better resources than will power and determination got us this unbelievable conviction that has changed our dreams to having a learning centre in main school into reality. Today Umang stands as a testimony to their indomitable spirit, their abiding faith in the power of individuals and in the hidden potential of children whom we want to help. We aspire and dream for an inclusive society where norms and facilities are avated keeping in mind all the individuals so that people with challenges also could become contributing members of the society and lead a life with respect and dignity.
Realizing that language development plays a decisive role in how a child learns to think, act and express; our centre incorporates an individualized speech program to enhance each eligible student’s speech. Our certified speech pathologists help and motivate the students to gain conceptual understanding and engage in work related pragmatic problem solving skills.
For the very purpose of gaining self-dependence, economic independence and rehabilitation, our registered occupational therapists use neurodevelopment treatment activities and sensory integration exercises. This ensures that the eligible students’ needs are complementary to the workplace/ vocational experience. Students are also trained in vocational skills like Paper bag making, Beauty culture, Gardening, Painting Diyas, Paper Mache products, Making collage, Making decorative stationery like gift tags, wrapping papers and hand-made cards etc.
Our goal is to assist our students to become an active participant in the family, community and society. For paving their way to a successful future, we undertake activity based lessons to teach the skills of cooperation, accepting criticism, conflict resolution, anger management and responsibility.
