Constituency Served

children and adults

Details of Work

Suchita Somashekharaiah is the founder and technical director of Shristi Special Academy. She has been a special educator since 1985 and specializes in dealing with autistic children and those with behavioural problems. Apart from the children who come to Shristi, she also works with children who seek her assistance directly. She is a faculty at the teachers training programme run by the KPAMRC for autism. She also trains people from NGOs which deal with children with behaviour problems, those who are mentally and severely challenged and autistic children and adults. She is also trained by the WHO in early childhood education. She has been awarded the National award for social excellence by the Manava Seva Dharma Samvardhini Trust, Chennai. As part of Shristi Special Academy, she has been involved with village projects dealing with the prevention of disabilities and monitoring of high-risk pregnancies. She has also worked with children with multiple disabilities at the Nirmala Shishu Bhavan. Her dream is to work with autistic and mentally challenged children above 14 years to help them develop a vocation and formulate a need-based programme for each child and family so that they can be fully integrated in society.