Jyotsna Srinivasan showing Madhav what needs to be done that day on a zoom call

Art, without an agenda, is just a way of expression for our kids with special needs. It is just their means of engaging with the outside world through art. Watching them enjoy the process of creating art is what inspires us. We had one-on-one sessions with each kid in the cottage - a space with a nice ambience, lots of trees and the kids who came, absolutely enjoyed being there. Some kids, for months, would just be outside holding a brush, playing in the sand and not create any art and we would allow that. There was no pressure on the child from us, we would even explain this process of letting them just be to their parents because many of them would feel their child is being unproductive or they are not doing anything. Children with special needs function differently, we need to give them the space and time to get comfortable where they are before they begin any activity. Time is relative, some kids shift very fast and some kids take a long time to do that, like they could be stuck doing something for years. If they are non verbal, certain things could get very irritating because of the lack of speech. By letting them just be and do their thing, we as facilitators observe and sense their mood. You got to realise they are sensitive beings and one has to treat them as independent human beings capable of expressing themselves and that’s what we aim to do at ABWA,” says Jyotsna Srinivasan.