More often than not, a tragedy is life’s way of nudging somebody in the right direction.
This was true for Katharin and Ramesh Vangal, who went on to start the Asha Foundation, which today serves as a beacon for distraught families, who thought there was no hope left for them. The foundation was set up in 2001 as a rehabilitation
centre for people with disabling physical and neurological challenges, a special school for Autism and the Nine Months Miracle, a pregnancy program.
Katharin Vangal’s life of service began when her brother was born with cerebral palsy. For Ramesh, the calling came in the form of his autistic son.
Both Katharin and Ramesh were lucky enough to have a private meeting with the Dalai Lama in Dharmsala, after which they traveled to a Tibetan orphanage housing children with cerebral palsy.
That's when they realised they wanted to chip in, too and came back to Bangalore to start the Asha Foundation.
The Asha Foundation has a team of dedicated and qualified professionals which includes Physio Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech Therapists, Special Educators and Assistant Educators.
“The Foundation comprises two main branches - the Asha Rehab (physio, occupational and speech therapy), and the Asha School for Autism (Special Education and therapy).
The organisation is completely non-profit and the charges are based on the income of the family, so we can reach out to people from lower income groups as well,” says Usha Ramanathan, director, Asha Foundation.
Usha joined the foundation in 2008, when her nephew was born with cerebral palsy. “My brother and his wife were so brave about the whole thing and that inspired me to go out and help people myself," she explains, adding, “We charge about Rs 250 per session for families who can afford it, that's the highest cost. And we use that money to subsidise treatment for poorer children.”
The foundation seeks to provide quality intervention for individuals with neurological challenges and uses a holistic approach to help these children reach their full potential.
“Sometimes, the autistic children we treat do join regular schools and become integrated into mainstream society,” says Usha, adding, “But this is not even close to the majority.
Autism is a spectral disease and it has no known cause or cure, so not many can make it back to society.”
Which brings us neatly to the biggest challenge the Asha Foundation faces. It’s not the children, who loving and adaptable. It's their parents. “Usually, the problems are caused by parents who are not wiling to accept their child’s disability,” says Usha.
“They’re constantly asking us questions like ‘how soon will my child join a regular school?’ and ‘how well will he do there’ and ‘how competitive will he be?’ It’s not easy, but many parents don’t bring the children in for intervention in time, because they take so long to come to terms with it.”
Apart from the rehabilitation centre, the foundation runs a school for autistic children as well. They conduct group sessions every morning, with about four children to a group, with one educator and one assistant educator.
“We try to keep the education they receive as close to a mainstream syllabus as possible,” says Asha. “This is because for parents, progress means their child being able to count to 100. The child might do it, but without any understanding of the concept behind it.”
Learning has to be fun, of course, so they do everything they can to keep it that way. The children are taught gardening, go for a yoga class once a week and even take a weekly dance lesson. “It could even be a bollywood dance class,” says Usha.
“These children have the right to enjoy their education, too. We also teach them basic skills, like how to make a sandwich and how to wash their own boxes.”
Parents are kept clued in through monthly observation sessions, where they observe their children to fully understand how to take care of them and what needs to be done.
“In India, the mentality is to do everything for the child, but that's not good enough. We sometimes have to tell parents they need to be strict and let the child do things for himself and become more independent.”
Things are not quite so rosy in the rehabilitation centre, where they deal with severely disabled children. “We teach some children how to stand, sit, walk and crawl,” says Usha. They also run a speech centre, for children with communication challenges.
“Parents think we will teach their child to speak, but this is not so. Some children cannot speak at all, so we concentrate on finding them alternate means of communication. There are devices like the avaz, which are excellent, but they are far too expensive,” says Usha.
Even though every therapist there is completely professional, they still can't help getting emotionally involved with the children. “It’s necessary, of course,” Usha believes, “but they can’t let that overcome their duty.”
The Asha Foundation might not help every differently-abled child that's out there, but they give them all a reason to believe that maybe life is not all bad.
