Naaz Ghani By Express News Service CHENNAI: On a warm sunny morning, the playground at Satyamurthy High School was bustling with excited children between the ages of three months to eight years, and their parents. Madhuram Narayanan Center for Exceptional Children was conducting their annual sports day. “All our children are achievers here. The games that they play are also developmental exercises they perform to adopt motor and social skills, throughout the year,” said Aruna Rathnam, executive director at Madhuram Narayanan. The event was kick-started with a march past. Children with developmental delays, autistic tendencies, Down Syndrome and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder marched as their proud parents observed and cheered from the audience stands. Games like separating vegetables, stacking blocks, arranging picture dominos, filling sand in a tumbler and throwing plastic balls in a tub placed two feet away from the participant were played. The crowd clapped and cheered as the children completed the tasks and ran towards the finish line. “Most of these games are based on the basic requirements that regular schools emphasise on,” Aruna said. “Currently, children with disabilities face exclusion in society. Despite their bright minds, they are often not given opportunities to lead normal lives,” shared Jaya Krishnaswami, director of Madhuram Narayanan. “We hope to provide the skills they will require to sustain themselves when their parents get old,” she added. Coordinators from project Annapoorna, a division of Madhuram Narayanan Center, and the Agape Sports Academy for Special Children, organised the activities for the sports day. “Much work has been put into ensuring that the children have enough time to complete the tasks. They need to have a sense of achievement and co-relate it with completing the task,” Aruna shared. “My son, Samar, is autistic. We are from Kerala, but lived in Dubai our entire lives. When he turned one year, he had completed most of his developmental milestones, however, he hadn’t started speaking. He underwent treatment over there for one-and-a-half years, but it didn’t show any results. We heard of Madhuram Narayanan Center from a friend. We immediately moved to India and sought help from them. Now, Samar and I attend sessions every day. Today, he participated in the game that involved transferring markers as he crossed different hurdles,” beamed Fatima, a homemaker. The event came to an end with chief guests, air marshal S Varthaman, and Shoba, parents of wing commander Abhinandan along with special invitees, Lars Peterson and family, the second generation of the Balamandir Kamrajar Trust; S Prashakan Rao, Sankar Group and Devasagayam, founder, Agape Sports Academy for Special Children, distributing medals and certificates to all the participants. The finish line Games like separating vegetables, stacking blocks, arranging picture dominos, filling sand in a tumbler and throwing plastic balls in a tub placed two-feet away from the participant were played. The crowd clapped and cheered as the children completed the tasks and ran towards the finish line.

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