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SpecialSaathi Newsletter- June 2023


SpecialSaathi Newsletter – June 2023

Dear SpecialSaathi community,

Welcome to the June edition of our newsletter! This month, we are proud to feature the inspiring stories and interviews of amazing fathers who are making a significant impact in the Autism space. These fathers are true Changemakersaathis, and their dedication and love for their children are truly remarkable. We hope their stories inspire and motivate you as much as they have inspired us.

In addition to the Changemakersaathi stories, we also launched our “Poll of the Day” in our Official WhatsApp group. We are thrilled to see parents actively participating and voicing their opinions on various topics related to autism. It’s heartwarming to witness the community coming together to share insights and learn from one another through these daily polls and the ensuing discussions.

We are also excited to announce that our 100-Day Selfcare quest has reached its halfway point! It’s incredible to see the commitment and perseverance of our participants as they recognize self-care as a necessity rather than a luxury. So far, 18 participants have successfully completed 50 days of the journey, and we couldn’t be prouder of their dedication to their well-being. Remember, taking care of yourself is crucial, and we encourage all our community members to prioritize self-care.

Our creative team and bloggers have been hard at work, delivering some fantastic content for our readers. Despite the summer vacations and holiday mood, they have churned out insightful blogs and creative posts that continue to educate and entertain. We appreciate their dedication and creativity in bringing valuable content to our platform.

However, due to the summer vacations and the closure of schools and some government organizations, we were unable to carry out our awareness programs this month. We understand the importance of these programs in creating awareness and fostering inclusion, and we will make sure to resume them in the coming months.

#Joyful June and #Jump Back Up July

Parents were invited to explore #Joyful June, an Action for Happiness initiative in the month of June
Similarly the July theme is #Jump Back Up July.

Welcoming July


Looking ahead to the month of July, we have an exciting plan in store for our worldwide readers. The theme for July is ” Global Changemakers- Expert’s stories from all across the world”. SpecialSaathi will be featuring Changemakers from all across the world and sharing their journeys and stories. This global perspective will provide us with valuable insights and inspiration as we work towards creating a more inclusive world for individuals with autism. We can’t wait to bring you these incredible stories!

Thank you all for being a part of the SpecialSaathi community. Your support, engagement, and commitment to making a difference are what drive us every day. Together, we can continue to create a more inclusive society.

Warm regards,

Shilpi Mayank Awasthi
Founder SpecialSaathi

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Specialsaathi Newsletter- May



Dear Community members,

SpecialSaathi is thrilled to announce that the month of May was dedicated to celebrating Mother’s Day.

We wanted to honor all the super-awesome mothers who have been the driving force behind their family’s success.

During this special month, we featured a series of interviews, ChangemakerSathi माँ stories, and ParentSaathi talks, showcasing some amazing mothers who have overcome challenges and achieved greatness.

● To start off the month, SpecialSaathi had a privilege to share an exclusive interview and ChangemakerSathi story of Mr. Aditya Tiwari, a visionary and exceptional leader who has proven that motherhood is not restricted to one gender. As a single adoptive parent in India, Mr. Tiwari has set an inspiring example for all parents.



●Next, we featured an exclusive interview and ChangemakerSathi story of Ms. Indrani Basu, an Autism Interventionist who has changed the face of Parent-child training programs in India. Her work has helped numerous families overcome the challenges of raising children with autism. Read Changemakersaathi माँ: Indrani Basu here- https://specialsaathi.com/2023/05/07/changemakersaathi-%e0%a4%ae%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%81-indrani-basu/



●We were honored to feature an exclusive interview and ChangemakerSathi story of Ms. Akila Vaidyanathan, Founder and Director of Amaze Charitable Trust. Her tireless efforts have helped improve the lives of countless children with special needs. “Tempered with love”- journey of Akila Vaidyanathan, read it here- https://specialsaathi.com/2023/05/13/changemakersaathi-%e0%a4%ae%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%81-akila-vaidyanathan/

●We at SpecialSaathi were privileged and honored to feature Ms. Merry Barua as a ChangemakerSaathi on the special occasion of Mother’s Day, we acknowledged Ms. Merry Barua’s immeasurable contributions to the Autism community in the Indian subcontinent and beyond, in our small little way. She is a remarkable woman and a strong mother who has been instrumental in helping millions of individuals with disabilities and their families.
Read her inspirational story “The Revolutionary Merry Barua”
https://specialsaathi.com/2023/05/14/the-revolutionary-merry-barua/



●In addition to that, we featured some super Mothers who not only made it for themselves and their kids but also helped the society and the fellow parents in this journey. We have the privilege to feature Ms. Jaya Sudhakar, an Autism Advocate, and Ms. Gouri Ganti, Founder of Maasi, as ChangemakerSathi माँ.

https://specialsaathi.com/2023/05/21/changemakersaathi-%e0%a4%ae%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%81-jaya-sudhakar/
https://specialsaathi.com/2023/05/28/changemakersaathi-%e0%a4%ae%e0%a4%be%e0%a4%81-maasi/

We hope that by sharing these inspiring stories, we could celebrate the remarkable achievements of so many mothers and tried to inspire millions of others to follow in their footsteps.


●Recognizing the importance of inclusive education, SpecialSaathi, in association with Satyam College of Education Noida, conducted the Schoolsaathi Awareness Program on their campus.This program focused on two significant topics: the development of an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and effectively dealing with students’ diversity in the classroom.

SpecialSaathi expresses deep gratitude to the Principal, Industry placement head, coordinators, and authorities of Satyam College for providing this valuable opportunity. SpecialSaathi also extends heartfelt thanks to the esteemed guest speakers and resource persons, Dr. Sonali Kataria, Founder Head of Sunrise Learning Foundation, and Ms. Sonia Jaitley, Founder and Director of Orane Kids Noida. A special acknowledgment goes to Mr. Praval Yadav, Founder and Director of Margshree Inclusive Society, for creating this opportunity.

Schoolsaathi Awareness Program-Empowering future Teachers for Inclusive Education. Read it here-

https://specialsaathi.com/2023/05/26/schoolsaathi-awareness-program-empowering-future-teachers-for-inclusive-education/


●We conducted a ParentSaathi Webinar on the topic “Communication beyond speech” the guest speaker and the resource person being Ms. Anjana Sathyabodha- Co-founder and lead Speech and Language Pathologist at Subodha. View the recording of the webinar- https://youtu.be/xX1AhbOGL84


The best part and initiative of the month of May –



Specialsaathi launched the “100-Day Self-Care Quest“on Mother’s day, specially designed to help all the lovely Mothers to prioritize their mental, emotional, and physical health. This quest running successfully was especially meant for everyone willing to invest a minimum of 40 minutes each day in indulging in self-care activities. There is reward and motivation.

Rewards 🏆
● Eligible for a rank in the Daily leaderboard tally
● Eligible for a prestigious Certificate of appreciation from SpecialSaathi.

Around 20 mothers are competing and taking out me-time for themselves daily, amidst their challenging work schedule and challenges which comes along being a parent of a specially-abled kid.

They are making each day count in these 100 days and determined to create a life-changing impact. We can’t wait to celebrate their progress and achievements along the way!

Remember, investing in self-care is a priceless gift these mothers have given to themselves this Mother’s day!


MySuperSaathi Yuvi and his friends May comic strip was dedicated to the amazingly superb mothers.



● Our awesome Bloggersaathis wrote some superb blogs and some new bloggersaathis joined our task force which included – Dr. Indu Manicketh, Jaya Sudhakar, Subha Rajesh, and a guest blogger Peter Blake from USA.


● Our extremely talented CreativeSaathis worked hard as usual to meet daily deadlines of creating beautiful artworks for our daily blogs. New addition to the CreativeSaathi team was talented Siddhanth Palaparti who designs graphics for his mother Jaya Sudhakar’s blogs every week.



Let’s Welcome the Month of June: Father’s day special month.


SpecialSaathi is thrilled to announce that the month of June will be dedicated to celebrating Father’s Day. We want to honor some of the superbly amazing fathers out there who have been the driving force behind their family’s success.

During this special month, we will be featuring a series of interviews, ChangemakerSathi पिता stories, and ParentSaathi talks, showcasing some amazing fathers who have overcome challenges and achieved greatness.

We hope that by sharing these inspiring stories, we can celebrate the remarkable achievements of fathers and inspire others to follow in their footsteps. Let’s celebrate this special month. More details will follow soon.

At SpecialSaathi, we are committed to making a positive impact in the lives of individuals with disabilities, and we will continue to work towards this goal beyond one particular month. Thank you for your support, and we look forward to sharing more updates with you in the monthly newsletter in the future.

Best regards
Shilpi Mayank Awasthi
Founder SpecialSaathi

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Specialsaathi’s Monthly Newsletter- April’23



Dear Community Members!!

We are thrilled to announce that SpecialSaathi has conducted a number of initiatives and awareness programs on the occasion of World Autism day on 2nd April and during the month of April celebrating it as an “Autism Awareness Month” with full vigor and enthusiasm.

April being Autism Awareness Month, and this year, SpecialSaathi made an incredible effort to create awareness and support for our community. From our various initiatives to spreading awareness about autism, we have worked hard to make a difference in people’s lives. As we come to the end of this month, it is important to reflect on the progress made and the work that still needs to be done.

In honor of Autism Awareness Month, SpecialSaathi has launched its monthly newsletter to wrap up the news and information on all the initiatives that took place during the whole month.


■ One of our most popular initiatives was “MySuperSaathi Yuvi and his friends”, which got an overwhelming response from worldwide on various groups and on Twitter. These adorable characters captured the hearts of everyone, and their messages/awareness quotes were a perfect way to spread awareness about Neurodiversity. Our “MySuperSaathi” initiative has featured Autism awareness comic strips- “MySuperSaathi Yuvi and his friends” daily in April month, providing a unique and engaging way to raise awareness about Autism. An exceptional artwork by our CreativeSaathis alongwith a popular quote added to each strip was there to create awareness about Autism spectrum disorders in an unique way. Visit https://specialsaathi.com/services/mysupersaathi/ to check out all the comic strips of April month.

■ We have also updated our SoochnaSaathi page with some useful directory of helpful resources for parents and caregivers. Visit  https://specialsaathi.com/services/soochnasaathi/

■ To raise awareness about Autism among different segments of society, we have conducted a Schoolsaathi awareness program. Visit https://specialsaathi.com/services/schoolsaathi/   During this month,
Ms. Shilpi Mayank Awasthi, Founder of Specialsaathi has been invited for an Autism awareness program in Satyam College of Education Noida and for an awareness program “Knowing to acceptance” for Salwan Montessori School Gurgaon. Read the stories here https://specialsaathi.com/2023/04/14/changemakersaathi-inclusive-campus-satyam-college-of-education/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2124351574425821/permalink/2281217068739270/?sfnsn=wiwspmo&ref=share&mibextid=KtfwRi


■ Additionally, Specialsaathi has conducted a series of ParentSaathi talks on our platform beginning with Dr. Gayatri Narsimhan (Founder Director Prakramika Institute of Vocational Training) promoting skill development and vocational training for children with Autism, on “World Autism Awareness Day 2nd April“.
Importance of Communication beyond speech was discussed in a panel discussion on Talking fingers’ book(Hindi version)by the co-editors and other respected experts on 16th April, and a talk on the new educational policy by Mr. Deepak Krishna Sharma was conducted on 29th April.

Webinar recordings from our YouTube channel of SpecialSaathi



■ And, our ChangemakerSaathi initiative has featured the best special schools in Noida. Namely- Sunrise Learning Foundation, Orane Kids, Margshree Special School and therapy center, Nirantar Prayas, and Soham Learning Foundation. Visit https://specialsaathi.com/services/changemakersaathi/

In addition to that, SpecialSaathi has also featured ChangemakerSaathi stories from some guest bloggers, ChangemakerSaathi Young leader: Anjana Sathyabodha, who shared her experiences and thoughts about autism. Read her story here- https://specialsaathi.com/2023/04/29/anjana-satyabodha/ And ChangemakerSathi for the month of April Ms. Padma Ramani. Read her inspirational story here https://specialsaathi.com/2023/04/12/padma-ramani-storytelling-for-a-positive-impact/

■ To commemorate the “Autism awareness month”, We have launched our initiative “Main SpecialSaathi Awareness Mascots” in the month of April. This campaign aimed to raise awareness about individuals with disabilities by featuring them as mascots on our website. Through this program, we hope to showcase the unique talents and abilities of people with disabilities, and break down the stereotypes and stigmas that often surround them. By featuring these individuals as mascots on our website, we hope to promote a more inclusive and accepting society, where everyone is valued and respected. We featured 3 supremely talented individuals in this segment. 1. Benzy – Indian classical singer and award winning performer. 2. Rodrigues siblings’ Joanne and Brydan Rodrigues– Athletes, Guinness book of record holders, supertalented teenagers. Visit https://specialsaathi.com/services/main-specialsaathi-awareness-mascot/


■ Our awesome CreativeSaathis has created awareness through their exceptional artworks for the daily blogs, SuperSaturday and SuperSunday blogs by our CreativeSaathis and for creating amazing artworks for the “MySuperSaathi Yuvi and his friends Autism awareness comic strips”. Visit www.specialsaathi.com


■ Our amazing Bloggersaathis has spread awareness and created powerful resource tools through their exceptional blogposts. Visit www.specialsaathi.com These blogs have been a great way to showcase the diversity within the autism community and provide a platform for those who wanted to share their knowledge and experience.

■ We have also incorporated a new brand “Jiggy jiggy jigsaw by Nakul Poojara” in Satviki SpecialSaathi’s e-commerce platform to empower our Neurodiverse individuals.

Visit https://specialsaathi.com/shop/ and shop for your loved ones.

■Due to surge in Covid cases we could not organize our planned Playsaathi and SwaasthyaSaathi initiatives’ programs.

To wrap up Autism Awareness Month, we have shared today our last comic strip for this month. https://specialsaathi.com/2023/04/30/mysupersaathi-yuvi-and-his-friends-29/

Overall, SpecialSaathi’s efforts during Autism Awareness Month have been instrumental in raising awareness and acceptance of Autism spectrum disorders, and we have truly made a difference in the lives of many individuals and families. Our commitment to spreading awareness and support for the autism community is path- breaking, and we look forward to seeing more of such amazing teamwork in the future. We hope that our initiatives will help raise awareness about Autism; will provide platform and valuable resources to parents, caregivers, and educators. We invite everyone to participate and support us in our efforts to promote Autism awareness together. We invite everyone to go through the valuable resources available on our website and learn more about the important work being done by our extremely experienced and professional team to support individuals with ASD and their families. By raising awareness and understanding of autism, we are creating a more inclusive and supportive society for everyone.


Let’s Welcome the Month of May: Mother’s day special month

SpecialSaathi is thrilled to announce that the month of May will be dedicated to celebrating Mother’s Day. We want to honor all the super-awesome mothers out there who have been the driving force behind their family’s success.

During this special month, we will be featuring a series of interviews, ChangemakerSathi माँ stories, and ParentSaathi talks, showcasing some amazing mothers who have overcome challenges and achieved greatness.

To start off the month, we are excited to share an exclusive interview and ChangemakerSathi story of Mr. Aditya Tiwari, a visionary and exceptional leader who has proven that motherhood is not restricted to one gender. As a single adoptive parent in India, Mr. Tiwari has set an inspiring example for all parents.

Next, we will be featuring an exclusive interview and ChangemakerSathi story of Ms. Indrani Basu, an Autism Interventionist who has changed the face of Parent-child training programs in India. Her work has helped numerous families overcome the challenges of raising children with autism.

We are also honored to feature an exclusive interview and ChangemakerSathi story of Ms. Akila Vaidyanathan, Founder and Director of Amaze Charitable Trust. Her tireless efforts have helped improve the lives of countless children with special needs.

In addition, we will be featuring some super Mothers who not only made it for themselves and their kids but also helped the society and the fellow parents in this journey. We have the privilege to feature Ms. Jaya Sudhakar, an Autism Advocate, and Ms. Gouri Ganti, Founder of Maasi, as ChangemakerSathi माँ.

We hope that by sharing these inspiring stories, we can celebrate the remarkable achievements of mothers and inspire others to follow in their footsteps. Let’s celebrate this special month.

At SpecialSaathi, we are committed to making a positive impact in the lives of individuals with disabilities, and we will continue to work towards this goal beyond Autism Awareness Month. Thank you for your support, and we look forward to sharing more updates with you in the monthly newsletter in the future.

Best regards
Shilpi Mayank Awasthi

Founder SpecialSaathi