Spastics Society celebrates 40 yrs

The Spastics Society of Karnataka led by its director Rukmini Krishnaswamy, has positively impacted 70,000 children since 1982

The Spastics Society of Karnataka (SSK) celebrated its 40th anniversary on Saturday. The event had an art exhibition called ‘Symphony of our World’, a musical programme by the society’s children and alumni, and ‘Sur Tarang’, a musical night by staff Vidya Venkat and Mohammed Zaheer Hussain. A total of 40 songs were sung in the event.

The exhibition showcased around 200 artworks by 12 artists. The event also marked the opening of SSK’s Fine Art Centre. Priya Rao, associate director, SSK, says, “At the centre, we want to focus on art, music, dance, and performing arts, along with the curriculum that includes environment sciences, mathematics, language etc.” She adds that immersive workshops with mainstream schools are planned. “We hope that the centre will help engage with Bengaluru’s fine arts community. It will be a part of our Knowledge Centre that is coming up,” elaborates Priya.

Impacted 70,000 children

SSK, led by its director Rukmini Krishnaswamy, has positively impacted 70,000 children since 1982, and works with around 6,000 children annually, says Priya.

“We started as a small school for 20 children. We have grown a lot with a multi-disciplinary team,” she says.

The Society works from 10 different locations within 100 km. “We have supported around 100 mainstream schools in Bengaluru with retaining children with learning disabilities, creating resource rooms, and training teachers,” she adds. The Society switched its activities online during the pandemic. “We supported and trained parents in the home programmes. A few children from the Indiranagar centre come from poor economic backgrounds — we gave them smartphones, and did telecalls,” she says.