What do you do if you want to take your wheel-chair-bound child for a meal outside? Will that restaurant in your neighbourhood have wheelchair tracks? Will the people who work there be sensitive to your child’s needs? Is there a special educator in your area? What’s the contact number of the new speech therapist you read about in the newspaper? Imagine a one-stop destination that has the answers to all these questions; one that has verified resources that cater to people with special needs and disabilities – that’s what Special Sources is all about. The recently-launched website has 120 such resources so far, and more are being added as you read this.
The brainchild of Chennai-based Rashmi Devaprasath and Advitya Thapa, the inspiration behind Special Sources can be traced back to Devaprasath’s college days. “I was part of the Western Music Club and got the opportunity to sing at a special school,” recalls the 33-year-old. “The students were extreme critics. If they didn’t like a song, they would just say ‘pidikkalai’ (Don’t like it),” she laughs. Devaprasath says that for her, it came naturally, to bond with the kids. “Something clicked,” she says.
After a Diploma in Special Education, a Master’s in Autism, and a year at her family’s hospital in Nagercoil, Rashmi realised that a lot of parents and caregivers of children with special needs and disabilities had a common question: ‘Where do we go? What do we do?’ when it came to providing the best for their children.
“I carried a tattered old notebook in which I noted all this down,” says Devaprasath. It was only last year, when her childhood friend Thapa entered the picture, that Devaprasath’s idea took shape. Her husband Praveen Raja, who runs Ikas Technologies, pitched in to develop the website. Right now, it’s the beta version that’s live.
Of course, their work doesn’t entail merely armchair Googling. “It’s a combination of a lot of things,” according to Devaprasath. Thapa reveals how they ride around town on their bikes to gather information. “We call and verify our resources before we put them up,” he adds. The 33-year-old holds a Master’s in Counselling Psychology and has worked with Sri Lankan refugees and in fields including HIV rehabilitation and women’s empowerment.
Although limited to Chennai at present, Devaprasath says that they hope to gain a pan-Indian presence in the future. “We started with Chennai since it is home,” she says. Devaprasath explains that their target audience are “the overwhelmed”. “We want to help parents and caregivers by giving them options and telling them where to find what,” she explains. “We do not tell you if the place is good or bad; we are a neutral party who does the mundane work of collecting the information for you. We want to connect people; connect professionals as well. Our tagline is ‘We belong’.”
REFERENCE:
April 17, 2017.Info for special needs, a click away.The Hindu.retrieved from
http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/these-chennai-based-youngesters-are-helping-people-with-special-needs-by-making-a-resource-directory/article18076993.ece
