I feel immensely glad to be writing this testimony because it gives me a way to show my gratitude to Indrani Mam, Director of Autism Society West Bengal who have given me this opportunity, to the team, faculty members, respective teachers and to all of them, without whose valuable guidance and assistance, I could not have been able to make such confident decisions while selecting the best course out of a pool of prospects.
First of all, I would heartily thank Indrani Mam, who have not only changed my life, but also changed the life of several mothers like me. When my child was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, I was referred by the medical professionals for the intervention and therapy at Autism Society West Bengal. Fortunately I came in contact with Mam, for a counseling session, from whom I first got to know about Autism and how to manage my child and handle the stressful situations of everyday life. I became very surprised and happy to see my child responding and communicating in a new environment with the respective teacher and also with others in the first ten days of intervention. Then I also joined the parent training program. After that I worked as a volunteer at Dikshan and after that at the early intervention unit at Lake Gardens. While I was working as a volunteer, I came to experience and know about each and every student’s learning styles. There I got immense cooperation with the respective teachers of the unit, all of them are so humble, we had a great bonding with each other, which gave me grow better more and more personally as well as gained a sense of responsibility, and helped me to learn to lot of things, and had been a great experience working with the students.
While working as a volunteer, I came to know about the Diploma course in Special Education Autism Spectrum Disorder. I eagerly joined the course in the year 2016 and it gives me great pleasure to say with pride that I have completed the diploma in Special Education (ASD), from Autism Society West Bengal. It has been a wonderful experience to get a very wonderful faculty, respective teachers of theoretical and practical classes, and they are very cooperative and the environment is very positive. Autism Society West Bengal has made the best efforts to provide all the best facilities for the students. The relationship between the respected teachers and the students is very cordial, which gave me an opportunity to excel in my area of interest. The two years spent here were splendid and helped me to grow better professionally and personally. It has been a wonderful experience for me. The teachers here are very helpful and always present to clear our doubts and lead us in the right path. We had so many workshops, field visits to other reputed institutions, interactive theoretical and practical classes, in which we have one to one conversations with the respective teachers, which opens a new horizon for me.
Of course, this testimony would be incomplete if I do not mention the invaluable assistance and cooperation of the students, who have helped me making the practical lessons (making Individualized Educational Programme, teaching learning materials, adaptive devices, taking group teaching classes, etc), which have helped me to complete the journey of the two year diploma course easily. During the period, I once more experienced the feeling of my old school days, college life with my fellow classmates; it was very fun with them.
Lastly, I would finish by saying that Autism Society West Bengal makes the best efforts, through which potentials are harnessed, skills are developed, confidence is built and dreams are realized beyond boundaries.