Autism Awareness and HelpA video blog by Manju K Iyer on unique craft ideas using rose petals.
Author Manju K Iyer
Manju K Iyer is a Psychologicist, Counselor, Parent coach, Play Therapist, Homeschooler and Founder of PlayTime ( A coaching program for parents of children with special needs).
Welcome to my Mumbai travel blog part 2. My travels continued for the second week in Mumbai!
Day 1 : Chitti’s (aunt’s) house to Mani Mamu’s (uncle’s) house : “I love birds! A cockatiel sat on my shoulders”
I love birds! I got excited as we went to Mani mamu’s (uncle’s) house. There were two cockatiels and many budgies in their house. One cockatiel sat on my shoulders. I was so excited and happy. It was fun to meet their daughter Naira. We played with clay there and came back home in Chittappa’s (uncle’s)car.
Day 2 : Chitti’s (aunt’s) house to VVMC park : “Meeting other homeschoolers”
Next day we went to VVMC park. I saw a lot of birds in the park. I love birds, I love to see them flying and chirping. There were a lot of children in the park too and we had a lot of fun. There were slides and swings and wonderful rides. It was a park for kids and we also met other homeschoolers like me there.
Day 3 : Chitti’s (aunt’s) house to tailor shop : “Searching on the streets for a tailor shop”
One day we went to find a tailor shop to stitch a lehenga choli for me to wear in Anu akka’s (sister’s) marriage. We saw several shops but we did not find any tailor shop to stitch my lehenga choli. At last we found one lady who agreed to stitch it. It was a relief to finally find her.
Day 4 : Chitti’s (aunt’s) house to Aaji Aajoba park and Calisthenics training centre : “Kesar Lassi was so yummy”
Next day we went by train to Malad and took an auto from the station to Aaji Aajoba park. There was a drawing day for homeschoolers there. There were also rides in the park. They were fun. Next we went to the Calisthenics training centre as the park got closed. There I did a lot of fun activities like hanging on the bars. When we came back, I ate Pani puri and Kesar lassi in the shop near the station. It was so yummy.
Day 5 : Chitti’s (aunt’s) house to a book exhibition : “My favourite Hanuman story book”
Next day we went to a book exhibition. There we saw many books. There I found a Hanuman story book. I started reading it. It was fun to read the book standing there. We bought some other books and came back home in Chittappa’s (uncle’s) car with my cousin, Anshu.
Thank you for reading my blog! Hope you enjoyed!
Author Lavanya Iyer
Lavanya Iyer is 9 years old Neurodivergent. She loves to read, draw, paint, and do traditional dance. She is a newly incorporated CreativeSaathi junior and a bloggersaathi junior with our team now.
Creative representation of Lavanya’s blog is done by our extremely talented CreativeSaathi associate Dhairya Kumar Pal.
Travelling, learning and therapy– a homeschooling series by Manju K Iyer
We have come from Gurgaon to Mumbai visiting my sister in Vasai after a long gap after lockdown. I made this visit for 45 days. After coming here, I decided that we will explore nearby areas on foot. As I am homeschooling my daughter, staying at a relative’s place and exploring the neighbourhood areas was a part of my plan to build a base for learning because for her walking itself is a big task and also a beautiful co-regulation activity.
We went to many places in the past week like a temple, a pond, a church, a market, an exhibition on different days. Daily walking in the day time gathering some vitamin D from our favourite Suryadev.
Yesterday, I thought let’s try the areas nearby Vasai station to see if there will be something to shop as well as learning for Lavanya. As its far away we took an auto. On the way I saw a Gurdwara, I instantly decided, this is the learning spot for us today. I had never gone to a Gurdwara before this. As we entered the gate Lavanya spotted a poster on the wall which spoke about the proper dress code. So now the challenge was whom to ask if we are still allowed as we did not have a dupatta to cover our heads. Luckily some volunteers were doing seva in a group. I pushed
Lavanya to go and ask them help. Before she went they themselves approached and guided us to a lady volunteer who helped us wear cloth on head and guided us on how to pray and shared meaning of whole mantra they say. Lavanya had conversations with her as she caries a curious mind with her which makes her ask lot of questions. In the process Lavanya got lot of oppotunities to talk to total strangers and some socialisation part was covered according to my plan.
While we were returning, one volunteer was washing clothes. So Lavanya had questions to ask him like where will you dry this, are the clothes heavy etc. He answered patiently and fulfilled her curiousity.
We also sat to do some seva with other volunteers there by making small parts of used puja flowers which will be then used as manure for plants. Here I got again an opportunity for doing a coregulation activity where my role was to hand over flowers to her one by one and she had to seperate the petals. Here again she did some discussions and my heart felt content that this is what I always wanted to happen.
This is our experience of our homeschooling with some learning some therapy and socialising with the volunteers and getting blessings of babaji.
Learning can happen anywhere and anytime. Thanks for reading. 🥰🙏
Author Manju K Iyer
Manju K Iyer is a Psychologicist, Counselor, Parent coach, Play Therapist, Homeschooler and Founder of PlayTime ( A coaching program for parents of children with special needs).
Lavanya Iyer is the daughter of the author Manju K Iyer. She is 9 years old and on Autism spectrum. She loves to read, draw, paint, and do traditional dance. She is a CreativeSaathi junior with our team now.
Every Saturday, I go to Usha akka’s (akka means elder sister in Tamil. In RASA, we call teachers as akka or anna) home. I started learning story telling from Usha akka online in 2020. Usha akka is a senior facilitator for RASA India. I would see the cats walking by while I did the lesson.
When I went for her lesson in 2022 in her house, I was excited. I love cats and dogs. I was looking forward to meeting some cats. As soon as I entered the home, I saw two black and white cats sitting on the table. Ms Usha told me that Nila and Freddy are her daughter’s cats. She showed me two orange cats perched on top of the cabinets. I tried petting Nila and Freddy. I then went to the kitchen and waited for Bheem and Simba to come. However, Usha akka told me that Bheem and Simbha do not warm up to anybody including Usha mam’s own daughter.
In the meantime, I had forgotten about the drama lesson. Usha akka put the two cats in the room and started the lesson. Every Saturday, when I go to her house, I try playing with the cats, but Usha akka does not let me play with them till I finish my lesson. The face to face lessons are fun because I can also play with cats.
Now, Usha akka also has a dog named Tara, but I only play with Freddy and Nila.
Playing with cats in London
While I was in Weston, I would only play with dogs, but after I started visiting my brother, I started playing with cats. My brother has two cats. Their names are Nannok and Jaggery. Nanook and Jaggery are very different. Nanook just hides under the bed when she sees strangers. On the other hand, Jaggery who is an Arabian Mau is a frisky cat. She is very friendly, playful, and curious. She likes to play a lot, but does not like to be petted much. I learned about cats by playing with Nanook and Jaggery, but now I can play with Freddy and Nila when I go for class.
A note on my class: I learn drama and storytelling. Usha akka has told me many stories such as Prahalada, Ganesha, and Ganesha and Muruga circling the world. She helped me prepare for my role as Rama in RASA day 2022. She also helps me prepare for other presentations. She helped me prepare for today’s presentation. I look forward to seeing everybody at the webinar in the evening.
Creative representation of my blog depicting a boy(that’s me) the 2 cats Nila and Freddy and my teacher Usha akka is done by an amazing little artist Vinayak Raj.
Thank you my friend!
