Tishya Mahindru Shahani a post graduate in psychology and a post graduate diploma holder in hypnotherapy from MSU Baroda.
She had a dream and the zeal to utilize her knowledge and specialized skills to pursue her professional career by providing therapy-based academic education to children with special needs. This prompted to establish Apnatva, an institution for children with special needs in 2017.
The objective was to run a school to assess the intrinsic capabilities and special needs of each child referred to them and extend support to the child so that she becomes self-supportive, confident and independent to deal with the functionalities of everyday.
After running the organization for a couple of years, the dream turned into passion, and the conviction became even stronger to serve and nurture these children of lesser gods who need all the love , passion support and validation that in spite of their facing major challenges, they are definitely equal to anybody.
This is the background for seeking conversion of Apnatva from a partnership venture into a trust.
The main activities of the trust are set out as below:
- Providing therapy-based academic educational support.
- Academic support based on the IQ level of each child.
- Imparting academic support to the child to enable her to take examinations for matriculation and pre-degree levels from National Institute of Open Schooling.
- Sensory Integration.
- Providing Art Therapy.
- Providing Play Therapy.
- Communication Therapy.
- Social Skills Training.
- Activities of Daily Living.
- Computer education.
- Physiotherapy.
- Aerobics.
- Parent Guidance and Counseling.
- Celebrating all Religious and cultural Festivals.
- Field Trips and Picnics.
- Art & Craft classes.
- Conducting Exhibitions with active participation of the children.
Apnatva has been operating mostly on the modest contributions by the parents of Apnatva family who mostly find it difficult to sustain their support. Some support also comes from our own extended family, friends and well-wishers – this category cannot expand very much. We have not had the support of any Government agency or any Corporate entity.
We are at rented premises at 2, Garden Park Society, Near Diwlaipura Atithi Gruh, Diwalipura, Vadodara Gujarat and the facility can only support 30 children. We want to extend the reach of Apnatva to a larger scale, provided we get some sustained support from the more privileged sections of the society.
OUR VISION
Apnatva strives to foster a center environment that is safe and that acknowledges individual differences; it educates the students of the lesser God to recognize their potential and sets a benchmark for themselves.
Apnatva provides academic and therapy based learning for children with intellectual disabilities.
OUR MISSION
To impart education that provides relevant, meaningful and diverse learning opportunities which support students in their aspirations, encourage them to fortify their innate strengths and spur them to productively engage with the community.
