Educating the special educators in Chennai

Over the last week, practitioners from 15 institutions in Chennai went through an in-person upskilling training programme conducted by the faculty of Portobello Institute in Ireland; Chennai Volunteers made this exercise possible

When Lakshmi Menon and her team members started to solve the ‘Zin Monument’ activity based on clues given to them, they found it an uphill task. The problem-solving exercise required them to determine the day of the week the monument was completed. They found themselves having to do three things simultaneously: look at the problem keenly; communicate it in the best possible way and collaborate intensely as they went about solving it.

More than 30 special educators like Lakshmi, representing WeCAN, got a ringside view of a variety of problem-solving strategies they could apply in their classroom, thanks to an immersive workshop organised by Chennai Volunteers in partnership with Portobello Institute in Ireland.

Team Portobello with the staff of Jayam Special School after a field visit 

‘Celebrating Neurodiversity 2.0’, as the workshop was called, was aimed at upskilling special educators, therapists, trainers working with children and young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder and related developmental and behavioural challenges.

In a press release, Rinku Mecheri, founder, Chennai Volunteers, says that the programme is a follow-up to last year’s initiative, based on an in-depth assessment of the unique needs of special children in underserved communities, in and around Chennai.

The initiative is aimed at strengthening non-profits working in the field of special education so that so they can work more effectively with their students and beneficiaries.