The Hindu : `Rehabilitation of mentally-challenged vital'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Dec 10, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

`Rehabilitation of mentally-challenged vital'

By Our Staff Reporter

KOZHIKODE DEC. 7. Chris Sadler, founder-director of Asha Niketan, Institute for the Mentally Retarded at Nandhi, Koilandi near here, says that a quarter of century down the line, there has been tremendous progress in the education and rehabilitation of the mentally-challenged in the country.

Ms.Sadler, who has been working in the area of community-based rehabilitation of the mentally handicapped for long years, adds, "There were just three special schools in Kerala for rehabilitating this group who are the most unfortunate in society.

"The situation has improved considerably, and more vitally, it is the parents and society who have been sensitised on the need to provide training to the mentally challenged so that they are integrated into the mainstream of society.

Dressed in a saree, Ms. Sadler who is here to participate in the Silver Jubilee celebrations of Asha Niketan, is very much a part of the Kerala milieu and speaks Malayalam haltingly. "People have now accepted the reality that family and society are vital links to the integration process.

What we do at Asha Niketan is to let them grow. We provide them a sense of equality and mutuality. We enable people to recover creatively and work.

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