Constituency Served

children with visual impairment, mild mental retardation, hearing impairment, 4-15 years; parents, teachers

Details of Work

The Divine Light Trust for the Blind works with children with visual impairment and associated disabilities. All its services are offered free of cost. It has a school for children with visual impairment and mild mental retardation. The children are given preparatory training in Braille, daily living and mobility skills, with the aim of integrating them in regular schools. It is the first institution that started integrated education in the state, and has trained resource teachers who work with the children in regular schools. It has hostel facilities for children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. It offers a 10-month teacher training course in integrated education for in-service teachers from across the country, and it offers counselling for parents. It has a residential rehabilitation programme for children with visual impairment and associated disabilities, and their parents. The children are taught daily living and mobility skills, and are given vocational training so that they can lead independent lives. It also has a six-month training programme in the villages by its team of village animators.