A school with a multi-sensory approach for visually impaired and more–our social stories this week

The School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, designed by SEALAB founder Anand Sonecha, uses a multisensory approach involving sound, smell, sight, and touch to help students move around.

Located in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, the school features a bright yellow entrance door, which stands out against the white walls. The central courtyard is adorned with a variety of aromatic plants emanating a peculiar fragrance, which helps students familiarise themselves with the area. Inside the classrooms, the walls have a smooth texture in contrast to the rough exterior of the building. This tactile difference helps students navigate the school easily, without any hassle. Over 40 students study in this school that caters to the needs of the visually impaired and blind students through its architectural design. Read more about this innovative approach here.

Customising app for visually impaired

On-demand home service provider Urban Company has updated its app to make it convenient for visually-impaired persons to book services. The update works with ‘Voice Over’ on iOS and ‘TalkBack’ on Android, commonly used screen reading software by persons with visual impairment, the company said in a statement.

“We are focused on ensuring a seamless experience for all our customers, including visually impaired individuals. Our new app update will hopefully make it easy for them to book services on Urban Company and communicate seamlessly with their service professionals,” said Urban Company Co-founder and Chief Product and Technology Officer, Raghav Chandra.

Funding education for transgender persons

Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu has announced that the state government will cover the tuition and hostel expenses of transgender individuals who wish to pursue higher education. While presenting the state’s fiscal year 2024-2025 Budget, he mentioned that the government will allocate an additional Rs 2 crore to the Transgender Welfare Board for this initiative. The minister mentioned that higher education plays a pivotal role in enhancing the socio-economic status and success of the transgender community. 

“However, only a limited number of transgender individuals are pursuing higher education in Tamil Nadu at present. In light of this, the government will cover all educational expenses, including tuition and hostel fees for transgender individuals who want to pursue higher education,” the minister said.

The finance minister also claimed during the state Budget that Tamil Nadu has successfully implemented several innovative schemes for the welfare of transgenders. The government also launched a special scheme to encourage women, differently-abled, and transgender individuals to work in the state. The programme will provide a payroll subsidy to all new industrial units providing direct employment to over 500 such individuals from Tamil Nadu for the next two years. In the Budget estimates for FY25, Rs 3,050 crore was allocated for the “Vidiyal Payana Thittam” scheme, which provides free bus travel in town buses to women.

In other positive news…

Making a difference

Recently, 14 autistic children trained at the Yadhavi Sports Academy for Special Children in Chennai founded by Sathish Sivakumar, an internationally certified swimming coach bagged a record by taking part in a 165-km open-water sea swimming relay – from Cuddalore Silver Beach to Chennai Marina Beach – over a span of four days.

According to a report in The New Indian Express, this expedition was organised for advocating inclusion of autistic youth in the field of sports, and to challenge stereotypes of the autism spectrum. In the event, held from February 1 to 4, the participants covered 89.09 nautical miles in 43 hours and 55 minutes.

The report added that R Marimuthu (49) and T Vidhya (42), parents of M Srinithin, a 14-year-old who contributed to this remarkable feat, said that many autistic children possess an inherent enthusiasm for swimming, and that organising such events helped raise awareness about autism.

The academy is planning to conduct more such events to improve the social skills of kids with autism and also shatter the stereotypes surrounding their capabilities.