Bombay Jayashri, MK Narayanan to attend neurodiversity meet
Chennai: The Sankalp Trust that works for the holistic development of children with Learning Disability, Autism Spectrum Disorder and Intellectual Disability, along with their 25 year celebrations, is hosting the LEARN 2024, an international conference on inclusion and empowerment of neurodiverse children on September 21 and 22 at the Raintree Hotel, Anna Salai.
“The Conference will address critical areas such as livelihood opportunities, workplace inclusion, coping strategies, role of technology and inclusive education. It is aimed at training and empowering all stakeholders like special educators, mainstream teachers, parents and caregivers. The objective of this conference is to gain knowledge in including Neurodivergent children and adults into our community,” said Ms. B. Jayalakshmi, Principal, The Open School.
The major themes to be highlighted are learning opportunities through allied arts, workplace inclusion for the neurodivergent, enhancing the lives of neurodiverse through innovation and technology and strategies to support neurodiverse students.
M K Naryanan, Former National Security Advisor will inaugurate the conference and the Closing ceremony will be presided over by ‘Bombay’ Jayashri, renowned Carnatic singer. Among the key speakers will be Richard Rose from the University of Northampton, UK and Orla Slattery from the Mary Immaculate College from the Republic of Ireland.
The trust runs the Sankalp Open School for children with learning disabilities and the Sankalp Learning Centre and Special Needs School for children with autism spectrum disorders. Set up as a remedial centre in 1999, a total of 181 students have passed 10th grade and 130 students have passed 12th grade through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) from both their Centres.
Many of the children (around 300 students) who have finished their special education at the Sankalp schools are suitably employed as one of them is a cinematographer, the other is working in Equitas bank in the HR team and one of the alumni is working in Sound Wagon Studios.