November, 2022

WOW! MOMENTS

It was an impromptu vocabulary building exercise for Gyan where he had to
draw a picture from his imagination and name it. He had to build it further by
adding one word to the original name and make a longer phrase each time.
He first named his drawing as “king” and before the teacher could think of a
suitable adjective, he wrote “Royal King” and it kept on coming. It is always a
delight for teachers to watch the child’s creative juices flowing in.

-As they come into CADRRE in the morning, the students pass through the
staff room to walk into the classroom area. Samuel and Hazeeb took us by
surprise when they saw each other and gave each other a high-five as if
they had been doing it forever. One might wonder what is so special about
a high-five but initiating a conversation or understanding gestures can be a
difficult minefield for individuals on the spectrum. They may not realise
that being in a certain proximity means people are trying to be friendly. At
CADRRE they are given opportunities to mingle with each other through
group activities; birthdays are celebrated and there are fun games planned
where they are given tasks to work with their classmates so that they
eventually start to notice and understand the presence of their classmates.
So, this high-five was indeed very special and set the spirits high for the
day for all teachers.

UP TO SPEED

This section gives you the latest updates regarding various interventions, activities/ progress of our students

Pre- Schoolers

Children from 3-6 years of age

The new academic year began by welcoming a bunch of new faces to preschool class. Children took some time to settle down
in the class and to adjust with the structure. The focus during this period was on parent training especially for parents of
newcomers. A parent training session was conducted every week for parents of all students. The highlight of the term was the
functional Fridays conducted with great enthusiasm by staff and students.

This gave them an exposure to various functional activities, like making fruit salad, sandwiches, sharing with friends,
washing dishes and putting the wastepaper in dust bin as part of an awareness on cleanliness. The goals from all the
disciplines were incorporated during the functional Friday activities. Children also enjoyed fun activities like movie time,
games and dance on Fridays. This made them feel happy and excited. Parental feedback of children being very happy on
Friday evenings was a sign of of their enjoyment.
For a group of students, we started the SCERT curriculum on an experimental basis. The class timetable is like a regular
class for academics. The academic activities were tried with minimum adaptation techniques. They were able to write a
formal exam with minimal support. Parents were also provided necessary help and guidance throughout.

Juniors

Children from 6 -9 years of age

We have started a new routine for the children designated as “Pack-up time”. Just before children leave for the day, they
should pack their own bag with their own belongings, including book, bag, box, and tab, and be prepared for their parents to
pick them up. This helps kids develop a sense of ”my things.” They are also inspired to know what their personal belongings
are in the classrooms and put them only in their own places. Simple routines like this go a long way in creating habits that
help them in the long run to be more disciplined in terms of how one takes care of one’s own belongings, realising their
responsibilities to keep it safe.
“Functional Friday” activities are introduced to increase the child’s functionality. Children are motivated and thoroughly
enjoying it as well. For Functional Friday, we sprouted microgreens wherein children are assisted to plant them, water them
and the sprouts grown by them are then used to make sandwiches. We worked on the concept of “Sharing is Caring” to help
children develop a sharing mentality, they also made yummy dosas. Starting these activities at this young stage creates an
interest towards cooking and help develop culinary skill which is a life skill.
We also simulated a shopping environment and played a shopping game to help them understand how to act in a store, how
to choose items, and the concept of money. Due to their unique challenges, children on the spectrum might feel anxious to go
in a public place with lot of people and distractions and might not also know how to behave in a social situation. But exercises
like these equip them to deal with such situations and makes it easier for parents to include their children for their outings or
when they go grocery shopping. Children tend to learn a lot of things through observing the world around them and its our
responsibility to create opportunities for them to experience and explore the world around them to learn!

Pre-teens and Teens

Children from 10-12 years of age

The concept of having a monthly theme was introduced this academic year- the themes chosen were Endangered Animals, Rain,
Onam, Grand Parents and so on- which brought in more coherence to the group activities that are done for half an hour every day

A set of 2 books are carefully handpicked to support each
theme, the text digitally adapted to be shown in a screen
and worksheets and activities- art based or sensory- to
complement the story. The display board in the main hall
is also redesigned every fortnight to reflect the theme.
Fridays became more fun and functional! 10:30-12:30
every Friday is dedicated to one functionally relevant
activity- dental hygiene, posting a handmade friendship
card, cooking- which the students did from the beginning
to end.

For instance, the cooking session would start with
introducing the students to the recipe, listing out the
ingredients, going shopping followed by prepping the
ingredients, cooking and ends with plating and serving.