RCHC PRAYAAS Building - Chandigarh

Rehabilitation Centre for Handicapped Children (RCHC)-PRAYAAS – a project of Indian Council for Child Welfare (ICCW), U.T. Branch, Chandigarh, is working since 1985. This Centre offers services to children suffering with Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Neurological Developmental Disorder, Hearing & Speech Impairment, Mental Retardation as well as Psychological Counseling to their parents/guardians. It also provides educational services to slow learners. Speech Therapists work with these children to improve their communication skills. Clinical Psychologist assesses their intelligence and provides counseling for behavioral disturbances. Occupational Therapist trains the children in their daily living and improves function balance and walking skills of children with handicap.

All these services are provided free of cost to the patients under one roof from one building which spares the patients and their families from the hassles of moving from one hospital to another. Once the children are able to walk, talk and take care of their toilet needs they are guided to get admission into main stream schools. Prayaas has a preparatory school for Special Children; currently it has enrolled 33 children. Special Educators take care of the educational needs of children with cerebral palsy, hearing and communication problems. Medical Social Worker helps the parents in the process of acquiring disability certificates for their children. Medical Social Worker also helps in organizing camps for disabled persons and helps spread awareness about the benefits of early diagnosis and treatment of children with disabilities. Prayaas is also serving as a Training Centre for several Institutions in the region. Till date RCHC-Prayaas has registered/enrolled 21623 children for rehabilitation in its different departments. A total number of 720 new patients were registered for the period from 1st April 2013 to 31st March 2014.

1. Workshops – A workshop was held for the parents of special children on 24.03.2012 at Prayaas on ”Management of Mentally Challenged Children at Home’. The workshop was conducted by Sh. Arvinder Paul Singh, Vice Principal of the Special Needs School of London, U.K.
   Second workshop was held on 27.03.2012 for the nursery teachers/counselors of private & government primary schools of Chandigarh, on the topic of ‘Autism and Learning Disorder’. The speakers were Dr. (Mrs.) Praveen Suman, Sr. Consultant, Development Pediatric, Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, Dr. (Mrs.) Pratibha Singhi & Dr. (Mrs.) Prabhjot Malli from Department of pediatrics, PGIMER, Chandigarh. Both the workshops were attended by 65-70 teachers, received positive feedback and were a success.

2. Symposium of Learning Disabilities – RCHC-Prayaas organized a symposium on Early Identification, Assessment and Intervention of children with Learning Disabilities on 20.09.2012 at Law Bhawan Sector 37A, Chandigarh. Learning Disability affects 6-8% of school going children in the age group of 6 years up to 16 years. On this occasion, Sh. K.K. Sharma, IAS, Advisor to the Administrator-cum-President, Indian Council for Child Welfare, Chandigarh was the Chief Guest. The basic motive of the symposium was to identify the learning disabled children at the initial stage at school level. In the symposium Sh. Anil Kumar, Home Secretary-cum-Vice President ICCW and Sh. Rajesh Jogpal, Director Social Welfare-cum-Hony. Secretary, ICCW were also present. The speakers of the symposium were Dr. (Mrs.) Pratibha Singhi, Chief of Pediatric Neurology and Neurodevelopment, PGIMER, Chandigarh, Dr. Neeradha Chandramohan, Director, N.I.E.P.M.D., Chennai, Dr. Himangshu Das, Senior Consultant, National Centre for Disability Studies – IGNOU and Hony. President, Society for Advance Study in Rehabilitation, New Delhi and Dr. Priti Arun, Professor Psychiatry, Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, Chandigarh. The symposium was attended by the more than 475 teachers/counselors of the Govt. & Private schools, crèche teachers and Anganwadi workers.

3. Camps for Medical Awareness & Early Identification of Disabled Children – Medical Awareness & Identification of Disabled Children Camps were organized in Village Dhanas, Sector 25 Colony & Ramdarbar, Phase-II & Palsora, Sector 56 Chandigarh.

4. Youth United Program – A program was organized by Youth United at Tagore Theatre, Sector 18, Chandigarh in April 2013. Children from Prayaas Preparatory School participated in group dance & music competitions and received appreciation for their performance.

5. Chesire Home Program– A program was organized in the month of April 2013 & 2014 at Bal Bhawan, Sector 23 Chandigarh. Special Children of RCHC-Prayaas performed different activities like Group Dance, Solo Dance, Music & Singing

6. Mother Day Celebration – A programme to celebrate mother’s day was organised on 13 May 2013 at RCHC-Prayaas, Sector 38-B, Chandigarh. Special Children of Prayaas performed different activities. Hony. Director, RCHC-Prayaas distributed the sweets & gifts to the special Children & their mothers. The purpose of celebrating Mothers day was to honor the spirit of every mother who provides unconditional love and care to their children.

7. Exhibition at Prayaas Preparatory School – An exhibition of Art & Craft was organized by the special children of Prayaas Preparatory School, April 2013 with the help of their teachers. At the exhibition they got an opportunity to display their talent of art & craft. The item exhibited were file folders, color envelopes, paper bags and decorative pots.

8. Distribution of Aids and Appliances –

   (a) Distribution of Cerebral Palsy (CP). Chairs – A program was organized on 2 August 2013 in RCHC-Prayaas, Sector 38-B, Chandigarh to distribute the C.P. Chairs to the needy and BPL patients. Dr. R.K. Gupta, Hony. Director, Sh. Surender Singh, O.S. ICCW, Sh. Jai Bhagwan, ADO-Prayaas and other staff members of Prayaas were present on the occasion. Dr Gupta distributed 20 Cerebral Palsy Chairs to the needy patients. Sweets and eatables were also distributed to the special children of Prayaas Preparatory School and OPD children of RCHC. In keeping with the needs of the patients 20 more CP chairs were also given. Therefore, a total number of 40 CP Chairs were distributed.

   (b) Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) & Knee Ankle Foot Orthosis (KAFO) – 53 units of AFO/KAFO were given to the poor and needy children who are receiving treatment in Prayaas. These special aids are very beneficial in the treatment of these children.

   (c) Hearing Aids – Ten units of hearing aids were given to the needy and poor patients. These hearing aids help in achieving hearing & speech in the special children.

9. Independence Day Celebration– A program to celebrate the Independence Day on 15 August 2013 was organized in Bal Bhawan, Sector 23-B, Chandigarh. Special Children from Prayaas Preparatory School and OPD participated in the function and showed their talent in various fields. It is a regular practice to distribute aids and appliances at RCHC-Prayaas.