Akkad Bakkad launched its service at 'Vishesh School', a school dedicated to educating Special Children.

PRE-LAUNCH PROMOTIONS

Akkad Bakkad approached organisations for Special Children. The brochure from Akkad Bakkad is shared with Parents and the Parents get in touch with Akkad Bakkad.

PRE-LAUNCH PREPARATIONS

The Parents/siblings are given a 'Registration Form' to fill, about their children's/siblings's interests and abilities. This information is used by Akkad Bakkad to curate activities for the children.

Apart from collecting basic information, the form also records what common interests do the special child and their sibling have. This gives a cue for coming up with personalised activities that would interest the sibling pair.

On the basis of this information, connections between the sibling pair are formed.

The following shows an example of such a mapping:

Forming connections through this mapping, a set of activities for this sibling pair were curated, that were best suited to the pair's abilities and interests, encouraging active engagement with each other. Similarly, personalised activities were curated for other sibling pairs who filled the Interest Form.

At that time, we only had children register with us who were affected either by Cerebral Palsy, Mild Mental Retardation or Down Syndrome.

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS

It is very important for the special child to be provided with a comfortable atmosphere, otherwise, it may cause them to get uneasy and disturb them. Since these children are used to a particular routine, and take time to get familiar with a place, Akkad Bakkad decided to conduct the service at Vishesh School itself, during their regular class timings. The presence of the siblings would not make them feel out of place and will encourage them to be at ease, sooner.

Regarding the planned activities of the service, the right sequence is crucial. The service is about making the sibling pairs have fun, nonetheless, we will agree that it will also benefit the development of the special child. While deciding upon the activities, we were sure about two things:

• For each sibling pair, there should be at least one customised activity that involves the interests of both, and that will be conducted first (this will also help the special child to get comfortable sooner).

• There should be one or more activities that are of interest to all the siblings pairs, especially to all the special children, and those will be conducted for all, simultaneously (these will be in accordance with the abilities of the special children of that session).

THE LAUNCH

The service was conducted in two sessions:

1. A session for the Special child and their Siblings together and

2. A session just for the Siblings

The participants were given take-away goodies at the end of the first session.

These are puzzle fridge magnets with the names of the participants.

They are also given the 'Activity Guide' with instructions to practice the activities they did during the session, at home.

There was also a note, accompanying the other items, for the parents.

OBSERVATIONS AND INFERENCES:

We made a few key observations and learned some invaluable lessons from our Service Launch.

• We realized that a very deep understanding into the condition of every special child is essential in order to serve every child better and also enable the child to achieve his or her fullest capabilities.

• While a set routine is needed, the routine structure must remain fluid, keeping in mind that the children are prone to mood swings and also get influenced by their peers.

• Siblings got to meet each other and motivated all the special children to achieve the tasks.

• Siblings are sometimes unaware of the capabilities of their special siblings, until they are exposed to new situations.

• The sequence of the activities should remain fluid, because children often get influenced by watching their peers and want to do what the other child is doing.

• We observed that indulging the participants in a hands-on activity is easier than making them participate in an activity where they need to communicate. This could be tackled by having ice-breaking activities.

• Ice-breaking activities are a must to begin with a session because it eases communication among people not knowing one another, leading to greater chances of success of the session.

• The special children took pride in introducing their special friends to their siblings, which indicated increased self-esteem during that time, which is highly beneficial for these children to experience, considering their condition.

• The atmosphere should be highly engaging and multisensorial, which helps the special child to take interest throughout because sometimes, children with special needs possess low concentration abilities and short-lived interests.

• The note to the parents is for them to make sure that their children do those activities with one another at home, because doing that would enhance their bond, and ensure a strong relationship, while having fun.

• The activities are curated such that they seem challenging to both the special child and the sibling.

To start the session, there was an ice-breaking activity wherein each of the participants was given a blank sticker. They were supposed to relate themselves to an animal if they felt there was a similarity in any trait, and assign an interesting name to themselves using the name of that animal.

For e.g., a Sarcastic Sparrow

After writing names on the stickers, they wore them over their left shoulder. Then, each had to explain why they chose that animal to relate to. In this way, they got a chance to open up about themselves and also give other people a chance to know them better.

The ice-breaking activity was followed by a brief session with the psychologist (the psychologist of Vishesh School). This began with giving blank slips to the participants through which they could voice out their concerns or ask questions related to their special sibling's condition. Collecting their queries in writing seemed to be appropriate because there is more hesitation in verbal communication. To clarify their queries, there had to be an expert who understood the condition of the special children well, and having the school's own psychologist to do that was the most suitable option.

After they were done writing, the slips were handed over to the psychologist. We assured them that they won't be judged for the kind of questions they asked. They had the freedom to talk about anything, even if it was something that disturbed them regarding their special sibling. Also, the query slips were anonymous. Hence, the psychologist read through those slips and addressed the concerns that were raised, without directly aiming at anyone. This helped the siblings express their thoughts freely, without getting influenced by their family members, because there may be suppressed feelings that need to be communicated and the parents are not the best listeners, owing to their circumstances and responsibilities.

The session ended with thanking the siblings for coming. They were given take-away kits which had a photoframe with their pictures from Akkad Bakkad's Session 1.

The Organisation people were also handed over a token of gratitude from the Akkad Bakkad Team, for their cooperation and support throughout the service.

OBSERVATIONS AND INFERENCES:

• One of the siblings took the lead to ask some personal questions to the psychologist which encouraged others to open up.

• The siblings said that they mostly knew everything about their special sibling and had no questions. Situations like these also have to be considered.

• This session was for siblings to open up, express, or share anything pleasant or unpleasant. We realised that such sessions should be held because siblings, when given a little time, do open up.

• Our takeaways for this session were such that would leave a happy memory in the minds of the sibling pairs and benefit their relationship.

• Overall, the siblings felt like many more opportunities for such sessions are required for other people out there.

• Eventually, the siblings would reach a comforting degree of acceptance by complete self-expression and become more confident individuals in the society.

• The Director of Vishesh School said the idea of including the siblings is something she would carry forward by calling the siblings to attend Parent Teacher's meetings.