DDF Does Disability Day!

At the most recent DDF meeting on October 23rd, the group decided that rather than celebrate World Disability Day in separate functions in each organisation, we would all come together for a joint event on Nov 28th.

BADHTE KADAM - an initiative of the National Trust - is a multi-state road trip by four separate teams who will be traveling around India celebrating diversity, promoting the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability and creating awareness about the specific National Trust concerns for people with intellectual impairments.

The road trip steams into Dehradun on Nov 28th and the DDF will be the welcoming committee. From 3:30 to 5:30, we will hold a mela at the Rangers College FRI Extension (near Parade Ground) in which there will be music, dance, games and fun activities, along with food and drink stalls, exhibitions, balloons and other surprises.

As the first public action by the DDF, this one is full of excitement and promise and we are all looking forward to the experience of sharing a common platform here in Dehradun.

ASHA Internship Program

ASHA or Accredited Social Health Activist acts as an interface between the community and the Public Health System. An ASHA comes from within the community and hence her understanding and reach amongst the people can rarely be matched. According to estimates each ASHA is responsible for a thousand people.

Being in this position, her role in developing awareness for health services is critical and it is essential that she understands “disability”. From our past interactions with them we learnt that unfortunately, disability and its related issues had not been included in the training imparted to them. This was the reason the Latika Roy Foundation Awareness Campaign proposed a one month internship programme for ASHA to sensitize them towards disability and to get hands on experience of dealing with children with special needs.

Early identification of a disability can be a big step in its effective treatment and an ASHA who is constantly in touch with the community can take this message across to the maximum number of people. The data that they gather can in turn be used as a base for better policies pertaining to health and well being in general and disability in particular.

During the course of the internship they will spend time at “Khushi”, our Satellite Early Intervention Centre and learn the basics in taking care of special children.

AUGUST: The Month that was....

Never known to miss out on anything fun all we need is a reason to celebrate! The month of august was full of fun filled activities across the foundation. We started the month with rakhi celebration at Latika Vihar. Days before the actual festival children were seen making rakhis during the art and craft class. Each sister made sure that Archana didi (the art teacher) helped in making rakhis that adhered to her beloved brother’s taste. Finally the day arrived, the puja thali was ready and each sister took the rakhi she had made for her brother and tied it on his wrist. In return the brother gave her sweets and a promise to love and protect her all his life.

Rakhi done and over with we got down to preparing for the next festivals in line, Independence Day and Janamashtami. At Khushi the children had been asked to dress up as Radha and Krishna.

The children looked absolutely adorable in their colourful costumes. After finishing with their regular activities they spend the rest of the day dancing to their favourite songs.

The day before Janamashtami the children at Latika Vihar along with the bamboo weaving and pottery teacher made a beautiful pandal and a swinging crib where they put idols of Lord Krishna.

While some of the children were busy preparing the Prasad for their friends and the guests the others could not wait to show the guests what they had prepared. The children put up two performances, a dance on ‘Woh Krishna Hai’ and a play on Rani Laxmibai for Independence Day.

On the whole it was a fun day and all the hard work paid of.

But our celebrations did not end here! We had a lot more to celebrate. On August 15 we started the day at Karuna Vihar to celebrate our freedom and hoist our national flag. The children at Karuna Vihar had prepared a small but meaningful play. The children did a play on the importance of trees and showed how destroying them would also take away the animals right to live in their own homes. After all the freedom and right to live is not just for human beings! The CVT trainees sang a patriotic song and danced their hearts out.
Wait there is more! The Early Intervention Centre had a new home, a home that we could call our own and it was time to celebrate this new found freedom. The evening started with endearing performances by the staff and children of Khushi. ‘Ensemble’ a Dehradun based rock and roll band played foot tapping numbers and forced us to take to the dance floor.

Oh no we are still not done we had barely caught on to a few winks of sleep that it was time to start gearing up for the next event, The JRD Tata Trust Lecture Series. The lecture this year was on Sexuality and the Intellectually Disabled, a topic which is important yet ignored.

India is a country where sex is a taboo subject even among the so called ‘normal’ people, so it is no surprise when people with disabilities are completely negated in such conversations. This lecture was aimed at several varied groups.

There was a group who held misconceptions like people with disabilities are asexual, many believe since they are not ‘normal’ they have no such feelings or needs. Then there was the group of parents of children with intellectual disabilities who had specific questions that needed to be answered and finally we had the group of NGO’s who wanted to know more.

To do this mammoth task of clearing misconceptions and answering questions we invited Dr Shekhar Seshadri a child psychiatrist from NIMHANS, Bangalore.

He was everything we hoped for and more. The main cause of concern that we had was the reluctance of people to talk about sexuality. Unless they talk we would never be able to help them understand or guide them on what to do next. It was this impossible task of making people talk that Dr Seshadri accomplished. To come and give a lecture may not be too hard a feat but to make people get up and ask personal questions without inhibitions is a feat that deserves applause.

The month drew to an end but it doesn’t stop here as Robert Frost aptly said, ‘but I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep’. September here we come!

OUR NEW EIC

They say that when life closes one door it opens another and that is exactly what happened with us when almost two months ago the Early Intervention Centre had to shift base from St. Joseph’s Academy. We have had a long and beautiful relationship with the school and thank the administration for all the support and love that they have given us over the years. It was heartbreaking to leave what had become our home but it had to be done. We were now franticly looking for a place where our children could go play, grow and get therapy. This is when an old friend, Jyoti Sood came through for us. She had a home lying vacant in East Canal Road which she graciously gave to us. We would like to take this opportunity to thank her for her gesture of friendship. Without much ado we packed our bags and were ready to leave. As you can see the children too had a great time loading and unloading luggage!

The house is centrally located, easily accessible and beautiful. The white gate opens to a small lawn with a huge tree and a cream coloured building.

It had been lying vacant for a while so there was much work to do before opening it to the children. So the staff of the EIC got down to making the rooms barrier free and colourful enough for the children. It was hard work because children are the toughest critics to please! As you can see the hard work too was great fun with the staff painting and cleaning each other as much as the walls!
This is what our new EIC finally looked like post the creativity unleashed by the staff! Welcome to our new home at 55 B, E.C. Road, Near Dwarka Stores.

Our phone number has not changed (+91-35-6458540)

The Supreme Court Sees The Light

Most of us watched with concern, dismay and horror as a drama involving a young woman with a mental handicap played out in the national press this week. The woman - just 19 years old - is a ward of the state and lives in a Nari Niketan in Chandigarh. She was raped by two of the guards working in the institution and she became pregnant.

Thinking they were acting for her benefit, some NGOs in the area brought suit that she should have an abortion and the Chandigarh High Court ordered that it be done, saying she was unable to understand the nature of her situation and would not be able to take care of the child should she bring it to term.

The young woman, however, insisted that she did not want an abortion.

The case finally reached the Supreme Court where emotional and provocative arguments were made on both sides.

Yesterday, the court stayed the Chandigarh decision and ordered that the pregnancy be allowed to continue.

However you may feel about abortion (I am against it) this case brought up all sorts of disturbing and fundamental issues:

1. Does having a mental handicap mean that your right to have children is someone else's decision?
2. What makes a good parent? Is intellectual ability a requirement?
   
3. Who decides?
4. What if, as one of the judges asked, the baby was also handicapped?
   
5. Who should be held responsible for the fact that this woman was raped? The men who did it? The institution which allowed it to happen?

In our organization, a group of us gathered to discuss the case just an hour before the Supreme court decision was handed down. Many interesting points were made and we all felt troubled and challenged by the implications of the case.

One of the most moving statements came from a visiting friend, an educational psychologist, who spoke about a little boy she knew whose parents were both mentally handicapped. But, she said, he was dearly loved, happy and secure. His parents received community support to bring up their child and while he was not likely to be an academic over-achiever, she expected he would grow up to be a good citizen who would hold a job and make his contribution. Should his parents not have been allowed to have him? Should he not have been born at all?

Whose life it it, anyway?

What are your thoughts?

Latika Vihar – where children rule!

Excited voices, dancing feet and smiling faces is what will greet you when you enter the tiny white gate of Latika Vihar in Vasant Vihar. Latika Vihar is an after school activity centre for children, it is a haven in a world where children are forced to grow up, where parental pressure to excel in every field sometimes kills the joy of childhood. Latika Vihar is a place where fun still exists, it is the only place where children are allowed to grow at their own pace and participate in activities they want. There is no pressure to perform or compete with anyone; there is just their desire to nurture their talents and our commitment to fulfill that desire.
At Latika Vihar no one works for the children, we all work with them, from learning pottery to playing badminton, from learning chess to reading in the library, from dancing to bollywood tunes to enacting scenes from different plays, they do all this and more, without any pressure. The child is left to choose what he wants to learn and since there is no pressure to perform, he can leave his inhibitions aside and experiment with different talents.

A child who thought he could not dance because he was told he is not good joins the group because no one is judging him, who knows with time he may turn around to give us a performance worth remembering.

Latika Vihar teaches you a very valuable lesson of life, no one is better or worse each individual is as capable, special and talented as the other. It is a place where the social, economical, physical and mental differences do not matter, what matters here are the excited voices, dancing feet and smiling faces that greeted you at the gate.

gearing up

All of us at the training centre are now gearing up for the new ATT course.
Getting ready to welcome the new trainees .We are going to be really busy! The centre is looking lovely after the new coat of paint and all those posters. We are at our creative best, rearing to go..... so wish us luck.

Minutes of 3rd All NGO Meet

The following are the minutes of the 3rd ALL NGO MEET that was held at , Bajaj Institute, Dehradun on May 15, 2009 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm

Attendees :
- Tenzin Phuntrok, Ngoenga School
- Air Commander A. K. Khanna, Bajaj Institute
- P.M. Samuel, Sumana Samuel, Sharp Memorial School for the Blind
- Bhavishya Dua, Deepak Pande, Dr. Sebastian Gruschke, Latika Roy

Foundation
- Sharon Dominica, Anugrah Project
- Sudha Atreya, NIOH
- Anupama Thapliyal, Priyo Lall, Raphael
- Saswati Singh, Inspiration India

1. There was an initial round of introductions.

2. It was suggested that the Mayor of Dehradun, Mr. Vinod Chamoli is expected to visit one of our meetings. He would like to share his ideas in this area.

3. It was suggested that we include the government organizations like NIOH, NIVH, NIMH working in the area of the disability and we work together towards a common cause. It was suggested that we do not use the term NGO meet from now on, it can be termed as the forum meet.

4. It was suggested that the group be named as Dehradun Ability Forum. The other suggestion was to name it as per the UN convention guidelines. It was decided to temporarily shelve the naming issue and continue with the other items in the agenda.

5. Blog:A blog http://dehradundisabilityforum.blogspot.com has been created for the Dehradun Disability Forum. It was suggested that LRF send out invites for the blog to all email ids attending the meeting and reevaluate the problems in accessing the blog in the next meeting.

6. Poster : Bajaj Institute gave a sample poster design. It was suggested that we refine it and put it on doctors’ clinics and chemists’ shops. It was suggested that we put a proposal to the government for spreading awareness in other areas of Uttarakhand. IT was suggested that we have two formats .. a poster format for patients and a card for reference by the doctors. Finally it was decided that we will pursue only the poster format initially. LRF to initiate the design of the posters and come up with options.

7. Meeting with IMA : A meeting with the Indian Medical Association was suggested and it was decided to make a small presentation for the IMA.

8. October Mela : It was suggested that we have doctors camps, food stalls, sales stalls and cultural events at the event.

9. Bhagwanpur Mela : LRF was planning a disability camp at Bhagwanpur for distribution of Mental Disability certificates. Raphael suggested that they can help with the evaluation. Baja suggested that they will send a representative with booklets.

10. Employment : It was suggested that we help the government help themselves. We as a group can identify information on what employment can be taken up by whom. We can also share the details of the employment available for PwDs.

11. DDF Fund : It was suggested that all member organizations would give a small contribution towards the fund which can be used for running and other minor expenses of the Forum.

12. RTI Usage : It was suggested that we can use RTI to get information from government offices regarding disability. It was also suggested the way to use RTI can be put up on the DDF blog.

13. Indian Sign Language course : Bajaj informed about starting a 3 month Indian sign language course after 20th May with charges of Rs. 300/- . They also planned to start a course on beauty culture and setup a beauty parlour for training people.

14. Next meeting : It was decided that there will be no Forum meeting in June due to the summer holidays and the next meeting would be at Raphael on July 17th, 2009. Raphael to send out the time details with the agenda later.

Minutes of the 2nd All NGO's Meet

ALL NGO's MEET

The following are the minutes of the 2nd ALL NGO MEET that was held at Latika Roy Foundation, Training Center on April 17, 2009 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm

Attendees :
- Tenzin Phuntrok, Jamyang Tenzin, Ngoenga School
- Air Commander A. K. Khanna, Bajaj Institute
- P.M. Samuel, Sumana Samuel, Sharp Memorial School for the Blind
- Jo Chopra, Bhavishya Dua, Deepak Pande, Archana Sethi, Latika Roy Foundation
- Sharon Dominica, Anugrah Project
- Sudha Atreya, NIOH
- Anupama Thapliyal, Raphael
- Saswati Singh, Inspiration India


1. All present gave introductions and presentations about their respective organizations in the following order :
- Anugrah Project
- Bajaj Institute
- Latika Roy Foundation
- Ngoenga School
- Sharp Memorial school for the Blind
- NIOH
- Raphael
- Inspirations

2. Information Technology : Neha, from LRF told about the usage of information technology for spreading awareness about the organizations and sharing information about disability amongst ourselves. The information can be about trainings, employment, awareness programs or information about disability. She suggested the use of websites, social networking sites (like facebook/orkut) and blogs as a tool for sharing information. She suggested that a blog is the cheapest form of information sharing that can start immediately. The following blogs were suggested : live journal and blogart. She suggested a sample blog that can be looked at for reference is : Circle of Hope. It was decided that since Neha seemed to be the person who knew the most about blogs .. she would start one about the forum that had collected.

3. Forum Name : The group discussed the possibility of having a name for the forum. The name ‘Dehradun Disability Forum’ was suggested and tentatively agreed upon. The logo design for the organization was discussed. It was decided that LRF would come up with sample designs of the logo and present them for selection by others.

3. Disability Camp : The group discussed the possibility of a city wide joint disability camp/convention. It was suggested that a time around October during the Dussehra to Diwali time would be the best for holding such an event. It was suggested that we can find commercial sponsors for such an event. It was decided that all organizations would come up with planning ideas for the camp/convention to the next meeting.

4. Poster : The group discussed the possibility of having a poster for information in English and Hindi. The intention was to share the names and contact details of the organizations with the medical community and the public at large so they can come to these organizations. It was decided that LRF would prepare sample poster designs which give the details of our organizations. Jo from LRF would also look at the funding from some organization like Cipla for sponsoring the posters.

5. Disability Helpline : It was suggested that a disability helpline like ‘197’ be made available and the telephone operators can be trained to redirect the person to the right institute/organization.

6. The next forum meeting details :
Venue : Bajaj Institute
Date : Friday, May 15th, 2009.
Time : 10:00 – 12:00 hrs.

7. The forum rounded off the meeting with a delicious pooled lunch.

LATIKA VIHAR KE BOLLYWOOD TOP 5

Latika Vihar is our own little Neverland. The place where no one ever grows up, in fact it is the place where even grown ups return to their childhood.

That is what happens every time I go there, I forget how old I am and just have fun. This article is not about how and what we do at Latika Vihar, but about the we did on June 12, 2009. This is about Latika Vihar Ke Bollywood Top 5, our play which was great fun to do and equally fun to watch. Ah! How can I leave you out of the process of deciding on the play? I was supposed to decide the play but the children ridiculed, discarded, appreciated and rejected tons of ideas that I gave them so finally I came up with what I thought was the perfect idea which was happily accepted by the children (PHEW!) the idea was of a TV Show. But the acceptance came with a rider, it had to be a dance show.

But I was ready for the challenge, if they were smart; I was smarter (ahem! ahem!).

It would be a dance show but with an anchor and advertisements, after all I had to make them act and no TV show is complete without either! This is how Latika Vihar Ke Bollywood Top 5 finally came to be.

A group of 24 children were divided into three groups. Each group came up with a list of their top ten bollywood songs and three of their favorite advertisements. The lists were tallied songs that were common were picked, that gave us 15 songs! What do we do next? All the songs were loved by the children so we did what any god fearing, democratic organisation does, we voted! Finally the Top 5 were chosen -

Song No 5- Pappu can’t Dance (Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na)
Song No 4- Desi Girl (Dostana)
Song No 3- Aye Pappi (Kismet Konnection)
Song No 2- Move Your Body (Kismet Konnection)
Song No 1- Yeh Dooriyan (Fool & Final)

Each song was intersected by an advertisement or poems by children at Latika Vihar and how can we forget our anchor, Anukta.

She was at her witty best, from Priyanka Chopra and Shahid Kapur’s love story to the effect of the return of our very own “Don’ Shaila and lovelorn Rajesh in the absence of his wife, Hema, she spared no one!

Once the show was over and the curtain call done with, the staff, children and guests at Latika Vihar took over the stage and danced away till they dropped!

Those who missed it need not worry as “Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost”, we will see you soon with another performance!

Supported decision making- What's your opinion?

We all make decisions in life- about what we want to do, what we want to study, which doctor to visit, how we spend our money and so on.. Making our own decisions gives us a sense of independence, solidarity, even individuality.
Adults with an intellectual disability also like to make their own decisions. When given an opportunity they also express their desire to do specific things, interact with specific people or go to a specific place. They too can dream.

However, in today's society they are often not given the opportunity. They are not given a voice. Even when given a voice, they are not allowed to make decisions about their own life, or future.

Take it a step further. A bank often does not allow a person with an intellectual disability to manage his own finances. The doctor does not get consent from , or a landlord will not enter into a contract with a person with intellectual disability.

That is where Guardianship came into the picture. A guardian being , ideally, a caring adult who makes good decisions and enters into a contracts on behalf of the person with disability. The guardian manages the person's money and property, decides where he should live and what he should do with his life.

Guardianship posed a problem. The person with interllectual disability no longer had a voice. The guardian talked to the community on his behalf , even thought and decided on his behalf.

Is that fair? Doesn't every human being have a right to make their own choices? The UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities protects the rights of people with interlectual disability and states that they enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with others. It also mentions, that the state will also provide them support, when required to access their legal capacity.

Supported legal capacity starts with supported decision making, a process where you support individuals with intellectual disability instead of making decisions for them. How can we support? It can be through providing a way to communicate, or also by helping the person go through the entire decision making process.

Inclusion International has been working on creating awareness and legal systems to allow for supported decision making and are starting a pilot project in association with Inspiration , right here in Dehradun.

In the project, the aim is to help the person with intellectual disability choose a few trusted people to form a network. This network in turn, helps the person think about his future and make decisions.

A group of people consisting of parents, professionals in disabilities ,and representatives from different NGO's in Dehradun ave now designed an outline for this pilot project to be carried out in the coming year. The pilot will hopefully, give us many answers about how this concept works in India- is it feasible? Acceptable by the Indian society? Will it work? We hope that during the course of this project, as we face problems and find solutions, we will find a suitable model of supported decision making that will encourage people with intellectual disabilities in India to dream, and to live out their dreams.

What are your opinions on this concept? This project? Can this blog be a place for us to think aloud?

NEWS UPDATE!!

Law University Campus to be 100 per cent Disabled–Friendly

Ahmedabad, Jun 07 : The new campus of Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) at Coba near Gandhinagar, whose foundation stone was laid on Friday, will be 100 per cent disabled–friendly. This will be the first educational campus in the country to be so. GNLU Director Bimal Patel said: "Our efforts are to make this campus a unique architectural marvel. Its most prominent feature will be its disabled–friendly design. The campus will be spread over 50 acres of land and will be made in a few phases, of which phase one has started." GNLU officials added that the new campus will include academic sections, residential hostels, faculty accommodations and a state–of–art world class library.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com

DU charts new course to open avenues for disabled students

Jun 03: One of the features that distinguish Doordarshan from private news channels is a special news programme for persons with hearing disability: the anchor 'tells' news through sign languages, covering everything from politics to sports and the weather.

Though no other news channel gives such job opportunities, the Delhi University's Equal Opportunity Cell is working towards more hearing– impaired students getting the training needed for such work.

The course starts this August. Now, a new course on Mass Media News Reading and Anchoring is being introduced in Delhi University to teach students the expertise needed for such jobs in the media. Dr Nisha Singh, Officer on Special Duty at the Cell, says TV channels often do not realise that disabled students can also handle news and anchor shows equally adeptly.

The Cell, she says, will invite people from the media industry to help create space for such students. "We have to work towards the implementation of the 3–per cent reservation for disabled employees in the media industry once the courses begin," Singh says. "There is a large population of disabled persons whose requirements should be met by the media industry."

Established in 2006, the Equal Opportunity Cell encourages Delhi University colleges to be more disabled–friendly, and has over the past couple of years made efforts to get more disabled students into the university. Last year, the Cell introduced four courses in Sign Languages, Communicative English, Information and Communication Technology, and Human Rights and Disability.

This year, Singh says, the Cell is introducing courses in Braille reading and writing, and Mobility. The course on Braille is available for abled–category students as well, she says. The course on Mobility will teach students how to effectively use their walking sticks to cross roads, how to get on buses using hand movements, and ways to use hearing–aids among others. The Cell plans to introduce the course in clusters so that two or three colleges share one centre of learning, Singh says.

All courses are of duration between four and five months and are part– time, so that they do not clash with regular classes. "Classes will be held after 2 pm at the Equal Opportunity Cell building in the North Campus," Singh says.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com

Anugrah Project- this is what we do..

Anugrah is a centre dedicated to improving the quality of life of children with developmental disabilities. Part of the Community Health and Development Project of Herbertpur Christian Hospital, the Anugrah centre emerged through one father’s commitment to looking after his son, Anugrah, who was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.

Anugrah program focuses on all aspects of these children’s lives by enhancing the their developmental prospects, improving the well being of their families, creating specialised services to meet their specific needs and creating a responsive and responsible community.

Anugrah currently runs an Intervention Centre for 26 children that focuses on physical and occupational therapy, life skills and special education. Within a 20km radius of the centre are another 40 children enrolled in a Community Based Rehabilitation program where community members are trained to work with children in their homes, involve them in play groups plus engage them in ongoing physical and occupational therapy.

Major Activities

Assessment of physical, social, learning abilities of children; planning customized, child specific intervention program; forming developmental groups in the communities; capacity building; awareness programs; and networking for advocacy.

Focus on the Poor

The aim of the program is to bring children with developmental disadvantages together, within the context of their community, to learn from each other and to provide support for their parents. The children have opportunities to learn social skills and improve their understanding of the world. The program also helps improve parents’ awareness and enables them to support and learn from one another.

Right to Ride: an initiative towards Social Inclusion

‘Right to Ride’ is an ongoing initiative started by Latika Roy Foundation (LRF) in Dehradun to make the people with disabilities aware of their rights and benefits provided by the government and sensitize the issue of social inclusion with regards to public transport.

The campaign which started in February, 2009 is based on the idea that improved mobility would allow people with disabilities to play an active role in society both economically and socially. Thus, when the need arises disabled people should be able to travel locally or within urban and suburban areas using public transport and other modes with ease.

As a part of the campaign Latika Roy Foundation has designed some attractive stickers (priced at Rs 10 per sticker) to put across the message of ‘Social Inclusion’.

The campaign also includes street plays staged by the LRF Awareness Team in partnership with ‘Nijaat Rehabilitation Centre Nukkad Natak Team’. The street plays will be conducted through out the year at various places like Prem Nagar, ISBT, Railway Station, Connaught Place and Anurag Nursery etc.

If you want to buy the sticker (the sample can be seen below) or know more about our campaigns, call us at 0135-2761014

Providing Banking Facilities to Visually Impaired Persons

On June 4, 2008 the RBI advised banks that all banks must render the same services to a visually impaired person as it would do to any other person without discrimination. The Circular stated that the banks must provide the visually impaired with every facility viz. cheque book facility, ATM facility, net banking facility, locker facility, retails facility, credit cards, etc.

Procedural Guidelines for Banking Facilities to Visually Impaired Persons

General Instructions

• Banking facilities for visually impaired persons should be offered at all branches of the bank
• Banks should not equate visually impaired customers with illiterate customers
• All banks must provide the same facilities to a visually impaired customer / prospective customer as it would to any other customer. But at the same time the customers should be made aware of the risk involved in some of these facilities which may be higher than that for a normal customer. Additional facilities like reading and filling up of forms, slips, cheques should be provided to a visually impaired customer, if required.
• Banks should not deny any services to visually impaired customers including visually impaired customers who use their thumb impression for operating the bank account.
• A visually impaired customer must not be forced to operate the bank account jointly with any person or in the presence of any person
• Visually impaired customers may be allowed to appoint a person / persons as their Power of Attorney or Mandate Holder to operate their bank account if the visually impaired customer so desires.

Opening of Bank Accounts

• All banking products offered by the bank should be made available to visually impaired persons.
• The bank must follow the same procedure for opening the account of a visually impaired person as it does for its customers.
• He / She must be allowed to open the account either singly or jointly with others.
• The bank must allow the visually impaired customer to open a joint account with anybody that he / he chooses including person(s) who is/ are visually impaired
• The Officer / Manager of the branch should read out the rules of business and other terms and conditions in the presence of a witness, if required by the customer
• The bank branch manager must inform a visually impaired customer / prospective customer of his rights and liabilities before opening the account.
• The documentation requirements of a visually impaired customer must be the same as any other customer.
• The account has to be clearly marked as “the account holder is visually impaired”.
  

Withdrawal of cash / cheque book facility

• Facilities for withdrawal of cash as we are provided to all customers regarding cash payments must be provided to visually impaired customers.
• In Case a visually impaired customer makes cash withdrawals at the bank then the payment must be made in the presence of another bank employee / officer. No outside witnesses are required unless the visually impaired customer requests that such witnesses be present.
• Operations should not be restricted to self-withdrawals.
• Cheque book facility should not be denied to visually impaired person
• All procedures pertaining to the use of such cheque books by visually impaired customers must be in accordance with that of the other customers.
• Cheques issued by visually impaired persons to third parties should be honoured, if otherwise in order.

Credit Cards / Debit Cards

• Visually impaired customers must be issues credit cards / debit cards on request.
• All rules and regulations regarding credit / debit card must be available on the website of the respective bank in accessible format. These should be read out to visually impaired persons and perceived risk factors explained to them.
• Banks may consider issuing Credit / Debit Card with Photograph. This photograph will work as an identification / verification.

ATM / Debit Cards

• Visually impaired customers must be permitted to avail of ATM facilities.
  Banks should also ensure that the ATMs are accessible to other categories of persons with disabilities such as orthopedically disabled.

On Line Banking / Mobile banking and Tele banking / Phone Banking

• All banks must have accessible websites and conform to international accessibility standards.
• All customer facing applications such as web applications, desktop applications and mobile applications should be accessible to visually impaired persons.
  The banks should have alternate methods of user authentication / password verification.
• All features especially those related to customer security must be accessible to visually impaired persons.

Lockers

• Visually impaired customers should be provided with locker facility on request
• Suitable lockers conveniently located for operations may be allotted.
• Bank procedures for issuing a locker to a visually impaired customer must be the same to any other customer
• A visually impaired customer may be given the following options for operation of locker:
• Operation – Singly
• Operation – Singly with the assistance of a reliable person, as per the choice of the Applicant
• Operation – Jointly
• A visually impaired customer may request the person in-charge of the locker to be present when the locker is opened or to check if nothing has been left behind or fallen after the locker is closed.

Loans

• Loans must be made available to visually impaired customers as are offered to other customers and their impairment of vision should not be a criterion for sanctioning / denying a loan.
• No additional burden of interest payment, collateral and other terms should be imposed on the visually impaired customer.

DOOR TO DOOR VISITS

Early Intervention is extremely important, the earlier a child with disabilities starts his therapy or education the better he will respond to its benefits. India does not have a routine screening program for young children, the result of which is that many children with potentially treatable disorders are not identified and many more with disabilities do not benefit from therapy which could significantly reduce their handicaps.

Aware of this fact, the Latika Roy Foundation Awareness Campaign started the Door to Door Visits. Conducted in the first week of every month these visits try to identify and spread awareness about the benefits of Early Intervention at areas near the Satellite EIC.

The children are identified and after their basic identification, their parents are encouraged to bring them for assessment at the Satellite EIC. The child is assessed by the therapist at the centre and if needed a program is designed for the child. In case the parents or the child can not come to the centre for therapy they are encouraged to join the Home Management Program.

The Home Management Program is a week long program where the parents are trained by the foundation’s therapist, doctors and special educator on how to help their child at home. We will be conducting a Home Management Program in July, 2009. Details of which will soon be available on the blog and our website http://www.latikaroy.org/ so keep yourself posted!

Through these visits we have recently identified 15 children out of which 8 were below 6 years of age. The Door to door visits have proved to be an important step because we managed to help and educate parents about their children’s special needs and how they can help their child lead a complete life.

More updates on the program will be available soon!

SAKSHI GOES TO WORK!

“It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new” -Alan Cohen Sometimes we tend to underestimate the capabilities of others. Or rather, we tend to over-estimate ourselves by believing that we can judge if someone can fit in or not. However there are moments and there are people who surprise us, prove us wrong to an embarrassing extent.

Doubts filled the minds of well wishers and critics alike.
‘She is not ready for it’, said one, ‘She will not be able to survive’, said another. However, to our pride, Sakshi proved all the critics wrong!

One of the first students at Karuna Vihar, she showed great potential from the very beginning. Guided and trained by seasoned professionals, Sakshi bloomed into a fine young adult ready to take on the world. Having trained in the safe world of Latika Roy Foundation, where everyone knows her and understands her, it was time for training in the “real world”, which is not so tolerant. After a lot of contemplation, we zeroed in on Welham Girls to be her training ground. This was followed by numerous discussions and delays, and finally with the generous support and cooperation of Welham, an inroad was created for Sakshi.

Now she is undergoing her training as a helper in ‘Bulbul house’ at Welham Girls’ School under the guidance of Ms Xavier (the matron). At the dormitory, she has won the hearts of one and all. Right from the first day, she worked with full confidence and finesse, impressing everyone with her sincerity and commitment to work. She is very observant, paying keen attention to the staff whenever they are explaining her something. She is proactive too, everyone seems more than pleased to instruct her. It has been just six days since she has been working there and she has charmed everyone! This is evident from the statements of the staff when she goes back after a holiday. “We really missed you dear”, said one, while the other didi cuddled her with affection. Under their supervision, she will continue her training in the coming months.

Our little Sakshi has grown, in every sense of the word and is making us all proud. Though there is still a long way to go, a new beginning has been made, and we are all very hopeful that she might be able to convert her temporary status at Welhams into a permanent one and this will certainly have a lasting impact on numerous lives and society as a whole. Filled with sanguine expectations, we look forward to a bright future for our other trainees as well.

As it is truly said,” From small beginnings come great things”

Visitors at LRF

Atithi Devo Bhava, an Indian philosophy which in essence means that our guests are like gods and should be treated with love and respect. We at Latika Roy Foundation follow this ideology religiously to be completely honest we love having visitors as each one of them leaves us enriched with their experiences, their success stories, their knowledge and their desire to make a difference. And the children at the Foundation particulary love guests as they get to meet new people and get their photographs clicked. Trust me we have some of India’s top models waiting to be discovered.This month too we played host to a varied group of visitors. A very special group that visited us quite recently was the group from Akanksha. Akanksha is a Mumbai based NGO that works primarily in the field of education, providing both formal and informal education to less privileged children.The group was inquisitive, sensitive and very intelligent. It was their first visit to Dehradun and they unanimously agreed that the environment here is wonderful. They loved the lush greenery and the climate which even in the month of May they said was better than Mumbai’s!The group headed by Lopa and Shefali visited the Early Intervention Centre, the Training Centre, the Karuna Vihar School and the College for Vocational Training. The children had great fun playing with our students at the Early Intervention Centre and one could see them generally having a great time.One of the students from Akanksha mentioned that they had all been around children with special needs at some point of time in their lives. They always made it a point to be polite and kind to the children but they had always considered them different from themselves but by coming here she realized that special children are not very different from other children, they just communicate differently. It was heartening to hear this analysis from a 14 year old girl, because this is a point that we as an organization have been trying to tell people. The children at Latika Roy Foundation or any other foundation working in the same field are not different from others, their dreams, hopes and needs are similar to others. They deserve the same respect, opportunities, education and love that everyone else deserves.

The team’s last stop was at the College of Vocational Training where they were served a scrumptious meal cooked for them by the trainees at the Centre. Post lunch the group hung around at the centre looking at the products made by our trainees, talking to the students and teachers. In fact it felt like no one wanted to leave!

When Lauren, one of our volunteers came for her class the students and teachers from Akanksha had a wonderful time painting with our trainees! We would like to thank the students and teachers of Akanksha for taking out time and visiting us. We had a wonderful time and will cherish the cards of appreciation that you left behind.

How It All Started

What is Dehradun Disability Forum? How did it start? Who are the members?

These are probably some of the questions that are currently on your mind. Well, to begin with Dehradun Disability Forum is a combined effort of several Dehradun based NGOs that are working for and with people with disabilities. It is our effort to create a common group that can answer, discuss, spread awareness and cater to the needs of people with disabilities. Through this we intend to create a united stand that is working together not against each other.

Now for the next question, how did the Dehradun Disability Forum start?
On Thursday, 13 March, 2009, the First All NGO Meet, an initiative of the Latika Roy Foundation was held at the Latika Roy Foundation Training Centre. This Meet laid the foundation of a beautiful dream, a dream of a united stand for the disable in Dehradun. The agenda of the meeting was to bring together all the NGO’s working for the disabled in Dehradun under one concrete forum where we could share our achievements, discuss issues, solve problems and make a difference. We all agreed that the government may or may not respond to individual concerns but a collective voice was far difficult to ignore. The commitment made in the First Meet showcased itself in the second All NGO Meet held at the Latika Roy Foundation Training Center on Friday, 17 April, 2009.

At the Second Meet we decided to tackle our next obvious question, how do we create this united identity, one which can spread awareness to a large group, one which is easily accessible and one which is in sync with today’s generation? The answer of which led us to discuss the importance of the World Wide Web! A common online identity would help the members in spreading awareness, have discussions with experts and supporters, get feedback and even get funds for various projects. The current rage on the internet is blogging and the members agreed to start with a blog that would provide all the information about the member NGOs training programs, activities and even employment opportunities for the people with disabilities.
This is how DEHRADUN DISABILITY FORUM came into being.

The members of this forum are NGOs that have been working in the field of disabilities for several years.
A list of the members is given below-
Latika Roy Foundation
Bajaj Institute of Learning for the Deaf
Anugrah Program
Inspiration Centre
NGOENGA School for Tibetan Handicapped Children
NIOH
Raphael Ryder Cheshire International Centre
SHARP Memorial

We will keep providing our supporters and well wishers news updates from all the member organizations and hope that this forum helps to bridge any gap that may be there. Comments and suggestions are highly appreciated!