PRAYATNA
GIGI SANTHOSH VARGHESE WRITES...
(Gigi worked as a Special Educator at Prayatna from July 2001 to July 2004).
I always had a passion for working with children and I was very keen to choose a career where I would have to interact with children. I did my M.Sc in Psychology with a specialization in Special Education and Management of the Mentally Retarded from Women's Christian College, Chennai. My course prepared me to work with children with special needs. As I finished my masters degree and was looking for a job, I came across an advertisement for the post of special educator at Prayatna, Centre for Educational Assessment and Intervention.
I worked as a special educator at Prayatna for three years. My job involved a number of responsibilities. When a child first came to our centre, I met the parents and had a discussion with them and collected a detailed profile of the child. In the second session the child was assessed. The assessment provided a clear picture of the areas in which the child had difficulties. Based on the assessment report, I drew up an educational program that would help the child to enhance specific skills. I then called in the parents and discussed the child's needs, strengths and areas of difficulty.
I also wrote the daily plan for children. The daily plan was written based on a record of the child's activities and level of progress in the previous classes. Maintaining this register helped me plan what activities the child needed to do on a day-to-day basis.
Each child came for a one-hour session so I got to interact with at least 8-10 children per day. Depending on each child's needs, the team at Prayatna made materials. The materials that are made at Prayatna are unique and an outstanding feature of our centre. The materials made involve attractive drawings, colourful board games, flash cards-- all of which are attractive and have visual appeal. These innovative materials helped maintain the interest of the child in the activities. Prayatna created aids for reading, spelling, writing and numerical skills. 'R.A.S.E' Ahead is a kit published by Prayatna.
Prayatna also conducted workshops for teachers and parents. In these workshops I got an opportunity to explain the materials used with our children. This has fostered confidence in me to speak before an audience. I feel that I have grown in many ways after joining the centre.
One of the vital roles of a
special educator is to build a good rapport with parents. Frequent communication
with parents and feedback from schools helped us reach the goals set for each
child effectively.
Prayatna means 'effort' and this meaning holds true for me at a personal level. The effort that I have put into my work has proved worthwhile for me. It is fortunate that Prayatna has a team of young, talented women who share a love of children. The team at Prayatna will always strive to make learning easy and fun