I, Dr. Nina Vaidya, after completing my post-graduation in 1991 as a child specialist from B.J. Medical college, started my own pediatric hospital in 1993. Thereafter I did my post-graduation in guidance & counseling in 2002. I have developed and designed my own learning modules for special needs children. I run online WhatsApp learning groups where I post age-appropriate learning videos. I do parent training programs nationwide & empower parents of special needs children.
Dr. Nina Vaidya started her own pediatric hospital (Shaishav Children Hospital) in 1993 in Navsari after completing her post-graduation in 1991 as a child specialist (pediatrician) from B.J. Medical college, Ahmedabad. Thereafter she did her post-graduation in guidance & counseling in 2002 from Vadodara. Dr. Nina Vaidya organized and conducted various awareness programs and workshops for the special needs children from a local level, all of which gave very good responses, and they are now spread nationwide.
An International Film Festival was organized by her in Navsari in 2015. The purpose was to create awareness about the sector of disability, and it was targeted to sensitize the population at a larger spectrum, specifically youth. There were 100 youth volunteers from colleges due to which the purpose of the awareness and sensitizing the youth was fulfilled. The youth got very motivated from this film festival and they willingly started educating the special needs children, started visiting the residential schools of the special needs children and organized camps in the campuses of these schools. Moreover, the adults in the private sectors who watched the films, opened avenues, and started giving employment to the special needs people. Dr. Nina Vaidya also motivated paid internships for the final year psychology students in Balaji school for mentally challenged in Navsari. This idea struck very well and improved the teacher-student ratio. The children got the advantage of zeal and creativity of the youth and most importantly the youth got effectively sensitized on a broader scale.
The October month is a month of creating awareness about Down Syndrome. Dr. Nina in 2015, did a poster presentation programme. A team of children with Down Syndrome visited renowned doctors of the town & presented Down Syndrome awareness posters.
In 2016, a residential S.E.L.F (Sole Empowerment Leading to Freedom) workshop was conducted by her in Navsari which was for the parents and by the parents. From this workshop, the mothers of the special needs children learnt that they themselves are the best therapists for their children. By being a little patient and knowing the exact needs of their children, they can plan their schedule accordingly and just giving some efforts daily, they can themselves empower their children which was the main motive of this workshop.
Dr. Nina Vaidya established a drive for an inclusive society for the special needs children. The first step to achieve this was by starting inclusive play. 20 schools were invited out of which 12 schools showed readiness for inclusive play. Those who were invited were very much motivated and touched by this concept. The advantage of inclusive play was bilateral. The special needs children got to interact with the typical students and the special needs children copy very well, so they learnt manners, waiting for their turns, understanding the rules of the games first and then playing, contributing and cooperation from the typical students. The special needs children as such require doing exercise in their day-to-day life, so the physical games they played naturally included the exercise needed for them and it was games with fun. The other advantage was that the typical students were sensitized, were grateful to God, developed a wider sense of thankfulness, giving and brotherhood and they got motivated naturally. These typical students then talked about their experiences to their parents and family and at least 100 students willingly participated per week for inclusive play with special needs children and considering at least 20 weeks, this idea could reach and sensitize about 2000 families by the end of first year. The response was so well, and it created an awareness on a broader scale because of which the inclusive play had to be conducted twice a week. After one year, the schools that were invited for inclusive plays, then started inviting special needs children to their schools for taking part in their cultural events, science fairs etc. Thus, a whole platform of inclusion, awareness and sensitizing the society was established.
Dr. Nina Vaidya started parent training programs and teacher training programs on a local level which helped realize that to train special needs children is not that difficult. A few changes in the routine and you can help the child maximally and optimally. The concept of acceptance was developed from these training programs. Now she conducts teacher training programs regularly in Navsari, Valsad, Vapi and Ahmedabad and is doing parenting sessions in all major cities of India. She is connected through internet on a day-to-day basis with thousands of parents of special needs children of India and other countries and regularly writes blogs on her blogging website for training and development of children with Down syndrome and uploads age-appropriate videos on her YouTube channel for the same. She does online counseling for the parents of special needs children nationwide, thus empowering the parents of these special needs children. She also conducts regular personal counseling in her own hospital. During the COVID19 pandemic, hundreds of virtual programs through several NGOs were conducted by her and now she has started her own life skill training program called SwaSaksham. The goal of SwaSaksham is to train the special needs children in a way that they can lead an independent life with minimal support and make them self-sufficient. SwaSaksham is an ongoing program. An orientation program for parents called SwaAarambh. SwaAarambh is to help your child/teen (10-14 years) to develop basic skills like understanding time, value of numbers etc. before pre-vocational training. A vocational training center and a shelter home called Bhadrakala for persons with Down syndrome is in the planning stage and is on the go. Bhadrakala aims to train maximum people with Down syndrome for different vocations. There will be different sessions on yoga, music, etiquettes, life skills and many more apart from the course training. The mission is to make the people with Down syndrome earn their bread and butter after being trained in Bhadrakala.
So, the holistic plan is
READY, SwaAarambh
STEADY, SwaSaksham
GO. Bhadrakala
Ready is SwaAarambh, Steady is SwaSaksham and Go is Bhadrakala.
