After a very refreshing nature trail to Kanheri Caves we have planned our next nature trail to Bedse Caves on 10th July, 2010.

Bedse caves are situated in Maval taluka in Pune District. Bedse caves are one of the few places that are not much crowed and are must visit for the travelers coming to enjoy the panorama of Pune. The history of caves can be traced back up to 1st century B.C. One of recent stories tells that British officers enjoyed Bedse Caves that much that they became rather famous destination. To please the officers local authorities ordered workers to maintain caves - to clean and paint them as if these were new structures. These activities continued up to 1861. It has got well built stairs to reach the caves.

Bedse caves are located near lonavala. It can be reached from Kamshet. Alternate route is from Somatne-Phata on the Pune-Mumbai NH4 Highway.

Cost: Rs. 400/- per person

Including travel by private bus from Khushi to Bedse and back, morning and evening breakfast.

Last date of registration - 5th July, 2010.

Plan:

• Meet at Khushi Centre sharp at 7.00 a.m. on 10/07/2010.
• Reach Bedse village at around 9.30 a.m. (depending upon traffic and other parameters )
• Breakfast 30 mins.
• Walk / hike towards Bedse caves. (Stairs to reach on top) 1 hr. (approx depending upon kids)
• Rest, sightseeing & lunch. 2-3 hours.
• Walk down. 30 mins.
• Visit some paddy fields. (Good for our kids to get tactile inputs) 1 hours
• Refresh and return to Mumbai.
• We should reach Khushi Centre approx 7.00 pm.

Apart from departure time all timings are possible to change depending upon situations.

Rules:

• This nature trail is open for all.
• Every child must be accompanied by their parent.
• Smoking, consumption of alcohol is strictly prohibited.
• Each member will be responsible for his /her own safety and baggage.
• Please do not litter, we believe in the saying, "When you go to the mountain leave only your footprints and bring back only memories".

Things to carry:

• At least 1 set of spare clothes with a towel and napkin.
• Lunch for the day.
• Water at least 2 lt.
• Optional: Camera & something to munch on.
• A good torch with a 2 spare set of batteries.
• Windcheater or raincoat.
• 1st Aid kit.

Wikimapia link

Gems project of Khushi started in June 2009.The program of each child is individually made and monitored with consultation of the parent by Dr. Reena Singh Varadkar. The therapist provides advice and support to parents on critical issues which needs to be targeted. Also they provide instruction for the home program to be followed. The therapist / educators work for one and a half hours with kids in 1 to 1 session to overcome various developmental issues. Also they work in group sessions to enhance their social interaction skills for one and a half hours. There is a snack break of half and hour in between the group and the individual sessions. The sessions are held from Monday to Friday. The kids are taken out of classrooms to get exposure such as Malls, restaurant, market etc. every Friday. Parents observe the kids in the second and fourth week of the month.

New batch of Khushi Gems will start from June 14 , 2010. Interested parents may write to us at info@khushi.net.in or call on +91 98195 61468.

New batch of group therapy would start from June 14 2010 and will continue for 6 months and will have 25 sessions. The batches are divided into 3 groups-

1. Basic group - the child learns simple skills such as waiting, turn taking and sharing. They also learn simple games and to be interested in the behavior of other kids. We practice the social skill in a variety of environments to be sure that it has been mastered.
2. Intermediate group - Program aims to address skills such as group play, joint attention and language usage, and to improve performance of social behaviors, such as initiating interactions, responding to communication and maintaining interactions.
3. Advanced group - In this group, child learns social skills, self-esteem and relationship skills.

Kids would be assessed by Dr. Reena Singh- Varadkar and placed in appropriate groups. Those interested, please call on +91 98195 61468 and give us your names or mail us at info@khushi.net.in.

Gems project of Khushi started in June 2009.The program of each child is individually made and monitored with consultation of the parent by Dr. Reena Singh Varadkar. The therapist provides advice and support to parents on critical issues which needs to be targeted. Also they provide instruction for the home program to be followed. The therapist / educators work for one and a half hours with kids in 1 to 1 session to overcome various developmental issues. Also they work in group sessions to enhance their social interaction skills for one and a half hours. There is a snack break of half and hour in between the group and the individual sessions. The sessions are held from Monday to Friday. The kids are taken out of classrooms to get exposure such as Malls, restaurant, market etc. every Friday. Parents observe the kids in the second and fourth week of the month.

New batch of Khushi Gems will start from January 2010. Interested parents may write to us at info@khushi.net.in or call on +91 98195 61468.

New batch of group therapy would start from January and will continue for 4 months and will have 15 sessions. The batches are divided into 3 groups-

1. Basic group - the child learns simple skills such as waiting, turn taking and sharing. They also learn simple games and to be interested in the behavior of other kids. We practice the social skill in a variety of environments to be sure that it has been mastered.
2. Intermediate group - Program aims to address skills such as group play, joint attention and language usage, and to improve performance of social behaviors, such as initiating interactions, responding to communication and maintaining interactions.
3. Advanced group - In this group, child learns social skills, self-esteem and relationship skills.

Kids would be assessed by Dr. Reena Singh- Varadkar and placed in appropriate groups. Those interested, please call on +91 98195 61468 and give us your names or mail us at info@khushi.net.in before 20th December.

Khushi is organizing Autism Awareness Program
2nd April is declared as World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD) across the globe. We at Khushi would have all the professionals and parents involved with Autism to participate in the concert on the 4th at Dinanath Mangeshkar Hall between 10:30am and 1:30pm where the kids would be performing and lectures would be held to create awareness. You are cordially invited to contribute towards making this event a success.

We request you to join in the WAAD celebration. The theme is "WE CAN DO IT". We are inviting everyone who is living with autism-family, friends and professionals to help increase awareness of autism in Mumbai. We are inviting our children with autism, their families, friends, all special schools, all the regular schools who integrate special kids, our vocational centers, child development centers, pediatricians, general physicians who deal with kids with autism, special educators, counselors, all our therapists and all parent support groups.

We request you to participate in any of the following:

• Either give lectures .The time limit is 10 minutes.
• Give a performance representing your school or organization .Time limit is 10 minutes.
• Display products /stuff made at their vocational centers on the stall outside in the auditorium foyer.

You can participate by attending the performance by our children and also participating in display and sale of products made by the children at their vocational centers. Your school/centre can take a stall also.

There will be a charge of Rs.50 per adult and the entry for kids is free.

Please let us know how you would like to participate in the program and make it a success for our children. For more details visit www.khushi.net.in or call 98195 61468 / 98694 60225 or write to us at info@khushi.net.in. Participation for the program will be done on first cum first basis.

Venue :-
Dinanath Mangeshkar Natyagruha
Opp. Railway Station,
Vile Parle (East),
Mumbai.

1. The program will start from January 2009 from Monday to Friday for four hours.
2. The program will consist of two hours of individual sessions and two hours of group therapy sessions.
3. There will be four batches and each batch would have maximum of six kids.
• Batch 1 - 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Batch 2 - 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Batch 3 - 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• Batch 4 - 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
4. If interested, please reply to us on info@khushi.net.in or call Mr.Mandar Varadkar +91 98694 60225.
5. Maximum of 24 kids can be taken

Khushi is organizing a lecture by Jackie Harland (Speech Therapist)
This is to inform that we are organizing a two day workshop by a Speech therapist (Jackie Harland) on Developing communication and social skills for special kids (more on kids in the autistic spectrum). She will be providing certificate for the same for the professionals. Details of it are given below.

Subject:-
Developing communication and social skills for special kids (more on kids in the autistic spectrum)

Organized by:-
Khushi,
Pediatric Therapy Centre.....

Speaker:-
Jackie Harland
Jackie Harland, Principal speech and language therapist London Children's Practice www.londonchildrenspractice.com

Jackie has been working as a speech and language therapist for twenty four years and has specialised in children with speech and language disorders. She has set up a speech and language unit in nursery schools as well as a large independent practice in central London. This practice provides speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and educational psychology and now has four clinics across the London area. The practice includes about twenty therapists as well as assistants and administration staff and arranges services to over forty five London schools.

Jackie speaks regularly in international conferences and goes into schools to provide in-service training sessions. She is involved in multi-disciplinary assessments and is used by many legal firms as an expert witness.

Date and time:-
15th February (Parent & Professional),
9:30pm to 4:00pm.

Venue :-
The Gordon House Suites
Training room,
Off Internation Airport Approach road, Marol,
Andheri East, Mumbai 400093
India.

Amount payable per parent:-
Rs.1500 if registered before 31st January 2009.
Rs.1800 - after 31st January 2009. (if seats available). No spot registrations

Amount payable per student:-
Rs.1500 if registered before 31st January 2009.
Rs.1800 - after 31st January 2009. (if seats available). No spot registrations

Amount payable per professional:-
Rs.2000 if registered before 31st January 2009.
Rs.2300 - after 31st January 2009. (if seats available). No spot registrations

For registrations:-
Please fill up the registration forms and confirm your presence by

• Email to info@khushi.net.in
• Call on +91 98694 60225.
• To download registration form click here.
• You may send us your cheques favoring - "Khushi, Pediatric Therapy Centre" on the address mentioned as below.

Address:
A/1,Raj Mahal Apartments,
Service Road,
Next to BMC Garden,
Jogeshwari (East)
Mumbai -400060

Khushi is organizing a lecture by Jackie Harland (Speech Therapist)
This is to inform that we are organizing a lecture by Speech therapist on effective communication and auditory processing skills. She will be providing certificate for the same. Details of it are given below.

Subject:-
Effective communication and auditory processing skills.

Organized by:-
Khushi,Pediatric Therapy Centre.....

Speaker:-
Jackie Harland
She is a Speech and Language therapist and works at "The London Children's Practice Limited, registered in England and Wales Company number 06202097."

Date and time:-
13th August 2008, 3pm to 4:30pm.

Venue :-
Waterstones Club
Off International Airport approach road,
Marol,Andheri East,
Mumbai 400059

Amount payable per parent/professional:-
Rs.200 if registered before 3rd August
Rs.300 - spot registrations.

Details of the lecture:-
The components of the lecture would include:

• listening attention
• auditory processing and memory
• semantic skillsword levels
• pragmatic skills and social interaction
• word retrieval and naming
• sequencing and organisation of ideas
• creative expression
• phonological processing and speech sound development
• Fluency

For registrations:-
Please fill up the registration forms and confirm your presence by
Email to info@khushi.net.in or call on +91 98694 60225.

To dowload registration form click here

Khushi is holding lectures for parents on how to handle kids with special needs. Lectures would start from August and will be held on Saturdays in the mornings. For more details contact on +91 9869460225.

Khushi is organizing a picnic for the special kids at Tikuji-ni- wadi at Thane - Ghodbundar road on 19th July, 2008. Interested people can contact Dr. Pooja Joshi at pooja.joshi@khushi.net.inor call her at +91 98671 22978.
To know more about Tikuji-ni-wadi visit their web site www.tikuji-ni-wadi.com