Satya Special School

Satya was founded by a group of like-minded individuals who were keen on working with children with special needs, especially girls.

On learning about widespread abuse and neglect of children with special needs, and the inability of the mother, in most cases single, to take care of the child, the group started Satya Special School in 2003 as a day-care centre with 20 CWSN. The organization has since expanded to several programs, including education, inclusion, livelihoods, training, and advocacy. Find out more about how we expanded through our interactive milestones map. Satya Special School has pioneered several innovative initiatives for the inclusion of CWSN. Satya's strong focus on women, guided by the philosophy of "mothers as co- therapists", has led to optimal development for Satya's children.

Date Of Registration of NGO : 9.9.2003.

Validity Period of Registration : Permanent

Area of Disability in Which the NGO is registered to Function in : Day care center providing Educational and vocational training to Children with special needs

View our Initiatives

Success Stories

Shoppers Stop!

Today, 18-year-old S. Vengatesh, of our Muttrampet Village Resource Centre, sits in his shop, talking to his customers and counting out change. He has been successfully running the shop since April, with the help of his mother and siblings. Vengatesh has been a student at Satya for the past ten years, and his father, the sole breadwinner (until the petty shop), works at a jewellery store. No one would have known he would be running a shop when he was participating in the centre’s World Consumer Rights Day program in March, where the staff set up a mock petty shop, to make the students understand the concept of weights and measures, and expiry date. That night, he told his parents his intention: he wanted to start a petty shop. His supportive family decided to take the plunge and set a shop up for him. He loves his new business and his father, Shanmugam, says that apart from certain physical fine motor activities like handing over eggs to customers, he is able to do everything on his own. The community too, supports Vengatesh’s shop! R. Kalaiyarasan, in charge of the Muttrampet centre, says that Vengatesh was always good in maths, and did not enjoy some of the other vocational activities that we tried, such as agriculture. “We are so proud of him. It was a surprise to me as well, that he took to the shop concept so well! In fact, his shop is modelled similar to our mock shop,” he says. Another Satya youth moves towards self-reliance!

Special Parent: N. Geetha

N. Geetha reflects Satya’s philosophy: that of mothers being co-therapists for children with special needs. A resolute mother of two special needs children, Santhosh (deceased) and Ananya, 13, nothing can stop her from working towards the progress of her daughter, and other parents at Satya. Her untiring efforts earned her the 2020 Special Mom Award from Sri Arunodayam Charitable Trust and several other accolades. She does not stop there: she wants to ensure that all parents of children with special needs get the confidence and resources required to see their child develop to their potential. “This is like my mission,” Geetha says. “Even when we go to the beach, if we see a special child, I walk up to the parents and talk about my experiences and how much we can do with our children.” If the lockdown beat down some of us, it enthused Geetha to work even harder for her daughter, and share her experiences with other mothers of Satya. She created special Teaching and Learning Materials that can be done using materials available at home, and a sensory garden using common household items and kitchen seeds, so that Ananya, her daughter with cerebral palsy and intellectual disability, can use the garden to feel textures and to calm herself. See the video here. She has also created a “One Activity a Day” book, which details 365 activities that caregivers can do with children with special needs with detailed instructions. She credits Satya Special School with being the support behind her efforts. “Just knowing that Satya Special School is there behind me keeps me going,” she says.

E. Vijayalakshmi, Sports Star!

Vijayalakshmi is our sports star! At 18, she has won many tournaments and medals in various sports, including badminton, volleyball and hockey. She came to Satya Special School after Class 8 in a mainstream school. Since then, she has shown a lot of interest in sports. Vijayalakshmi, the third child and only daughter of the couple, used to play badminton with her now-deceased brother and father. “At that time, we did not know she would take it up so seriously,’ says Kumari. Vijayalakshmi’s crowning glory came at the Thailand Special Olympics- Asia Pacific Unified Badminton Championship 2019, when she won the gold medal! “We were scared to send her so far away, but the school and her sports coach encouraged us and we are happy that they took good care of her,” says Kumari. Her mother, E. Kumari, credits Vijaya Lakshmi’s success to our PE teacher, P. Arun. Arun says that he can see a great change in Vijaya Lakshmi since the time he started coaching her. “Initially, when we were in school, she wouldn’t mingle with the other kids. We went to Gujarat for the first time in 2016. On the train ride back is when I started seeing a change in her. She was communicating with others and having a lot of fun,” he says. Her medals have come fast and furious, and her parents don’t have space to display all her accomplishments. Sports, as Arun says, is a great leveller, and a major means of inclusion. When Vijaya Lakshmi went to Thailand, it was as part of an inclusive sports team. “Playing with others, achieving so much gives our children a great boost of confidence,” he says. “We used to worry about her, what would happen to her after us, but now, we are confident that she has enough skills to survive,” she adds. Her father, Ezhumalai, is retired, and was a security guard at a government office.

S. Ragunath, Entrepreneur

From solving his learning problems, to solving computer hardware problems, Raghunath Seshadri has come a long way! Raghunath, who now owns and operates Sumathi Systems, which troubleshoots hardware and software systems, and sells accessories, came to us when the mainstream school said he could not “cope with” their curriculum. At Satya, we took it slow. We saw he was fearful of new situations, and so, first made him appear for the subjects he was comfortable with. Then, when he cleared them, he sat for the exams he wasn’t that familiar with. We also conducted mock exams for him, and he wrote NIOS 10th and 12th exams without any pressure. After that, he secured a diploma in Computer Hardware from Sri Vivekananda Community College. He decided to start his own business “Sumathi Systems” to solve issues related to hardware and software malfunction, whereby also selling computer accessories. A great transformation indeed!

Watch Video

7500

CWSN & Families

44

Villages

More than 15000

Stakeholders

More than 25000

People