A letter from the mother of a differentially abled child of rural Kasaragode carried the seed of NIDAS. When NISH received this letter, which states the difficulties faced by the mothers like her in the rural areas in bringing up their children, the team took up the cause and worked for a solution, which resulted in the birth of NIDAS (NISH online Interactive Disability Awareness Seminar).

The letter is as follows..,

Sir,

I am a mother from Uliyathadukka of Kasaragode District. My youngest son Vishnu, of 10 years is a differentially abled child (MR-50%) and is famous in Kasaragode. From 1^st standard onwards he studied in the Government School and is now in 3rd standard. He could manage to do things on his own and hence was not send to special school. Moreover, such institutions are less in Kasaragode, and the nearby one is at Mangalore. With financial and other issues we face, it is difficult for us to go Mangalore daily. Still he doesn’t know to read and write. People often ridicule and aggravate him to which he responds. And many often it gets out of control. People have begun to accuse us for his responses. We wish to stop this. There are many parents like us in Kasaragode District.

I think, my son needs ‘behaviour training’. It would be highly beneficial if NISH could give training to selected few mothers from us so that we can train our children ourselves. I am interested to become a part of your welfare activities.

Expecting your positive response.

With respect,

Beena M.K.

The project was initiated on 30^th October 2015, is supported and funded by Directorate of Social Justice & Empowerment, Kerala. NIDAS webinars are being conducted on the third Saturdays of every month at NISH, and is simultaneously received across the 14 DCPU centres across Kerala.

The sessions are held on the disabilities mentioned in the RPWD Act 2016, and their rehabilitation, by the subject experts. We encourage the participation through the inclusion of grass root level organisations, government field staffs, etc. the active interaction between the participants and the resource person depicts the success and effectiveness of the project. Such participation ensures creating a better atmosphere for individuals who are differently abled, it also creates a platform for projecting the challenges faced by them in their day to day environment and highlighting the need of policy makers to execute necessary measures.

NIDAS presently is conducted in Malayalam to serve the population of Kerala or individuals exposed and familiar with Malayalam language. In future it will be executed in different Indian languages and in English, with a global reach.