For decades, autism therapies have been confined to conventional clinical set-ups, divided attention especially in population-excessive regions (example, India) and long waiting lines. Moreover, offline clinical expertise has only benefitted those chosen, lucky ones whose residences have fallen within the proximity to that expertise. What about the children who stay away from the city centers? What about the parents who simply cannot afford to travel to and from these centers over 4+ days a week?
Going beyond all the loopholes in today’s conventional, strictly-offline therapy set-ups which concern with accessibilities, geographical barriers and so on, when we talk about the results which these set-ups strive to deliver – the reality takes an ugly turn. In over 500+ parents, whom we spoke with just last year, over 95% complained that they could not attain the results they expected, rather many of these children underwent acute developmental
regressions due to frequent changes of their therapy centers. Moreover, due to the obvious emotional barriers between a child on spectrum and their therapist, who is of course an unknown stranger to them, the integration, adaptation and reciprocation to these offline therapies have been largely limited. Beyond the scope of their sessions that do not last longer than 40 minutes – 1 hour, the parents are not equipped and trained enough to carry forward the learnings of these therapies at their homes.
After noting all the issues which were associated with offline therapy set-ups, one thing has become clear: the world of autism therapies needs a thorough democratization.
This is where ARULA for Autism has stepped in.
ARULA for Autism is a rapidly growing start-up that seeks to democratize therapies for children having autism; by turning their homes into their best therapy centers. How does ARULA deliver this? By turning parents, especially the mothers, into the primary therapists for their children.
“…Thus, ARULA for Autism is a mother-centered BUT a child-directed approach. And what is your therapy center over here? Your home! Need to work on sensory integrating activities? Let’s utilize bathrooms, kitchens, gardens. Need to work on object identification skills? Use fruits, vegetables, books, toys. Need to work on motor skill development? Let’s tie shoe
laces, places objects one after another, learn how to tie and untie knots using clothes. Every House is a temple of senses, is a temple of knowledge. Every zone, be it kitchen, a living room, bedroom, or a bathroom – can be turned into an activity area fostering maximum grasping and learning.” Says founder of ARULA for Autism and a Global Speech & Language Therapy Expert – Ms. Mayuri Ramdasi.
ARULA for Autism is headquartered in Mumbai, India but operates in a completely remote and online model – a concept that flabbergasts many in the field. ARULA makes use of her Learning Management System (LMS) platform to demonstrate various activities and guide parents through their child’s journeys. Thus, ARULA for Autism is not just a doctrine that
seeks to secure wins across 18 developmental parameters in an autistic child’s life; but it is also a holistic e-learning platform, first ever of its kind, meant to empower parents to be their child’s own best therapists.
ARULA’s Founder & Creator – Ms. Mayuri Ramdasi – actively creates her session videos, displaying various activity demonstrations and explaining certain key concepts crucial to boost the child’s development; and uploads the same with a year-round access on ARULA’s E-Learning Website. Some of the programs which all the enrolled parents have access to are – ARULA’s Orientation Program, Dynamic Program, Excellence Program and so on! The
parents move along their 1-year ARULA journey by completing these programs sequentially, executing the ARULA activities as per Ms. Ramdasi’s instructions and share their videos for review.
ARULA also assigns every parent an entity – named as ARULA Care Therapist (ACT) – who monitors and guides them for period of 1 year. This entity, having been trained under the Founder for many years, is an indispensable addition to every family’s ARULA success story.
Every day, over hundreds of activity videos are reviewed by ARULA’s ACT Team and is given the appropriate developmental guidance – using platforms such as WhatsApp, Zoom and ARULA’s user dashboards. Automatic reminders are sent to every ACT regarding the parents who have been inactive for quite a while, after which the ACT strives to motivate these
parents to get on track for their child’s developmental goals.
Additionally, every family is required to meet virtually with their assigned ACT for something called as their child’s ‘Monthly Achievement Report’ (MAR). ARULA MAR is a scale that asks parents for their noticed improvements across over 18 parameters in the
development of their child. The parents attempt this scale from their user dashboard on the ARULA website, after which, the ACT gets on a meet with them to discuss the progress more in-depth.
Every week, Ms. Mayuri Ramdasi hosts a live webinar for all the enrolled ARULA
‘Super Parents’ answering their most frequently asked doubts, concerns and celebrate their weekly achievements. This webinar is organized using a group video-call service provider,
like Zoom, in which more than 100 participants join in and learn from the global Autism Expert together.
Thus, ARULA for Autism is 21st Century’s Go-To Solution for Home-Based Development in Autism. An approach formulated with over 2 decades of expertise in the field and aided by the digital infrastructure ensuring that no child is ever left behind.
