The Elements

On the 7th of November 2012, Vidyasagar put up a musical performance "The Elements" by some of the students at Thomas Rajan Auditotium. This performance was the culmination of a 7 day musical residency that we had with the renowned music group "Opera Circus" led by Mr.Nigel Osborne, Mr.Darren Abrahams and their team.

The 7 days was magical not only for our students but also our staff. The musical experiment has shown us the means by which the most profound person with disability can actually compose music. Non verbal students did it with the movement of their eyes or gestures and students who can speak have created original music.

SKOOG:
At this event was unveiled "SKOOG", a musical instrument created in a way that people with multiple disabilities can access it and create music. This unique musical aid will be available to the public through our resource centre. The time has come when people with disabilities do ot play others'  tunes but create their own.

Music Residency for Persons with Disability

29th October - 7th November 2012


At Vidya Sagar, we have always realized the importance of the role of music and fine arts in the life of people with disabilities. with this view in mind, we invited the world famous classical music group from U.K, called "The Opera Circus".
 A week long residency was held in Vidya Sagar  by Mr.Nigel Osborne, who was the the Reid Professor of Music at Edinburgh University till recently. Nigel is a world renowned composer and an expert in using music for children with disability and those who experience trauma as a result of war or conflict. He was joined by Darren Abrahams, an expert facilitator and opera singer who is taking the lead role in the Opera Naciketa, which will perform later in India. Priyanka Devani, a musician and animator from the Uoe's Music in the Community course is also a part of this residency. Together with four other musicians, they worked  with the children and the staff of Vidya Sagar and brought Classical music into the realm of education and disability.

On 3rd November was a seminar run by Nigel on the new techniques and methods being explored in music for people with disability. This interactive seminar was titled. " Neuroscience and Special Education" and had lectures and video clippings of their work, both at vidyasagar and other organisations all over the world. The seminar was held at M.S.Swaminathan Research Foundation Auditorium between 10am and 4pm.

Sadya

              Your blood sweat and tears…
               …are all for a good cause

Sadya, Vidya Sagar’s annual adventure challenge for corporates. An event where there is adventure, sport and charity – with corporates coming together “sporting” a cause.

SADYA is an annual adventure event where companies pay Rs 3 lakh to field a team of 10 participants. These teams are hosted by Vidya Sagar in a lovely campsite for two action-packed days. Adventure Zone , the city’s leading outward-bound HR training company, organises the event. Participants are put through activities like rock-climbing, rappelling, obstacle course, caterpillar race, and other esoteric games. The team that shows the best brain-brawn combo evidently walks away with the trophy, which is a glorious multi-metal sculpture especially created for Sadya by famous sculptor Nandagopal.

This 2-day event will be filled with adventure activities – we will have participants rappelling down a 50-foot wall, climbing a wall with the help of grips embedded in the wall, mastering a dynamically changing obstacle course, testing reflexes on the shooting range, diving with scuba gear, doing the caterpillar walk, pitching tents blind-folded and more – challenging the teams to push themselves and work together as a unit. It is exhausting but a lot of fun. Don’t miss this opportunity - give back something to the society while developing HR skills among your employees.

Apart from being a great incentive for your best employees, Sadya is also an excellent informal HR exercise. Participants learn teamwork, leadership skills, crisis management and communication.

Then, there are the awards for teamwork, leadership, zest etc, plus exciting gift hampers sponsored by various companies, ranging from air tickets to restaurant vouchers.

Fun and excitement are central to the event, as has been year after year since it was launched in 2002. The Sadya Trophy has so far been won by Firstware Software Solutions (2 yrs), Accel ICIM, Ajuba Solutions, Allsec Technologies, GAVS India, Orchid Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals and Datamark Prodapt (last 2 years). 

Details: www.sadya.org 

Kalakkal Cafe

Kalakkal cafe is a concept that was evolved to spawn awareness about making every place 

accessible to wheelchair user. In a country where there aren't ramps at most malls, movie 

halls, cafes, restaurants and even temples. Kalakkal Cafe aspires to promote  the cause

of wheelchair users and generate an opportunity for them to enjoy things the way others do. 

Your hand would mean alot. Step in as much as you can to promote the cause. With your 

support, we are sure we could change something for them.

Kalakkal Cafe meets on every 2nd and 4th saturday of each month between 4pm to 7pm at

Vidyasagar, no.1, Ranjit Road, Kotturpuram, Chennai 85.

For more details, log onto: http://www.facebook.com/KalakkalCafe

Our Projects

Vidya Sagar believes that disability is a human rights issue, this belief underlies all our projects. We also strongly believe no one issue of disability can be tackled in isolation. We work towards integrated development through a series of programs. Over the years, we have changed our syllabus to make it more challenging and more in keeping with main stream schools; 

We have also addressed the needs of students with mental retardation through pre-vocational skills and a vocational programme. 

Our adult leisure programmes for adults with profound disability is one of its kind in the country. 

"Matrix"- a class where children with severe physical disability but bright minds can get an education and therapy independently is another innovative milestone. 

Some of our other undertakings include

• The Center for Special Education: This works like a regular school where students are given education, therapy and training in art, drama and music. The Matrix class started in 2007, the USP of the class is technology- that which enables our older and more severely disabled students to access education, hobbies and anything else that they are interested in.
• The Vision Center: This center was started in 2007 to meet the needs of children with cerebral palsy and visual impairment. This unit also has an Optometrist, the early training given to children makes a major difference to their education and quality of life. 
• Employment Education Center: The project for our adult students works not only in vocational skills but also skills that will enable them to find jobs and get on in life. It also works on open placement, for this they sensitize corporate houses and the community to enable them to work along with people with disability. An innovative model that we have developed is the "Neighborhood Initiative" which enables a group young disabled people to work together to make products like paper ware and leaf ware. 
• Family Based Rehabilitation:  This programme empowers and trains parents while training the children, it is also the first point of contact as it houses the advisory and referral clinic. Early Intervention programme has just been revamped to look at babies with cerebral palsy and visual impairment. It also holds 3 out station programmes in a year where people with disability from all over the country come to the center for 3 days, get assessed, get a programme and all the medical intervention they need. 
• Inclusion Cell: This programme not only gets admissions for students but also follows up, trains and sensitizes the community. We also work with the world bank program of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The success of this program can be gauged by the fact that in 2008 we had 75 children in main stream schools and colleges. 
• Early Intervention Unit: This unit works with babies below the age of 5 years. Through specific interventions and simulation programmes, the children learn to explore their abilities, so that they can move on towards learning skills and main stream education. 
• Training: Vidya Sagar runs many courses recognized by the Rehabilitation Council of India. This year our post graduate diploma course was affiliated to Madras University. We run a distance education program for Bhoj University in the area of Special Education. We have also developed a trans-disciplinary course which equips a person with skills in physiotherapy, Occupational therapy, speech therapy and special education to meet the needs of a person with multiple disabilities. 
• Disability Legislation Unit: It is managed by self advocates, 2 of them being our ex-students. They advocate for disability rights through lobbying, to bring about policy changes both at the centre and state level. Their focus is in 5 areas - Access, Awareness, Education, Employment and Legislation. Within this group there are two more advocacy units-  "Teja" a group to focus on disability and women and the other "Ekta" which focuses on the rights of people with multiple disabilities.
• Community based rehabilitation: Vidya Sagar's commitment to disability extends to the rural and small towns of our country. through time bound partnership programmes with other NGOs in villages and small towns, we give people both technical and rights based training. Our community based rehabilitation programme has enabled us to work with different models.
• Mental health: We took up the area of mental health in 2004. In partnership with basic Needs India, psychiatrists and other organisations, we work in the community towards stabilizing and empowering people with mental illness. 
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication: Vidya Sagar realizes the constraints faced by people who are non-verbal. We team up with IIT and Anna University professionals, designers, technicians and software personnel to develop indigenous aids. We also use other non verbal communication means to reach people who need to communicate, for we believe communication is crucial for anyone.

Our Mission

We focus on ...

• Persons with cerebral palsy, no matter how profoundly affected, and other disabilities where facilities are inaccessible.
• There families and the communities they live in 
• Demystification, independence and social inclusion.

We believe...

• In the right to equality of opportunity
• In the right to make informed choices and meet individual needs 
• That disability is a development and human rights issue. 

We value...

• Differences 
• Collective initiative
• The spirit and positive attitude we bring to work each day

OUR MOTTO... POSITIVE AND PROACTIVE

Our History

Vidya Sagar. Is a movement.. a flight for freedom.. a statement of faith.

Started in a garage in 1985 by Ms Poonam Natarajan, a mother with a child with disability, 

Ishu, Vidya Sagar is known today for the quality and range of programs, it’s “professionalism 

with care”, the pro-active and positive spirit of its team of staff and children.


In 2 decades, Vidya Sagar has developed into an institution offering programs that focus on 

holistic development and education for children and adults with special needs; 

demystification of disability; empowering persons with special needs and their families with 

knowledge and skills, while strongly advocating on issues of inclusion.


The organization believes in the right to equality of opportunity, an inclusive society where 

differences are celebrated, that disability is a development and a human rights issue.