Feathers Resource Centre for Intellectual & Learning Disability

07/08/2025

🌈 Creating Awareness, Inspiring Action 🌈

FEATHERS Special School successfully hosted an Awareness Programme for Parents of Children with Developmental Disabilities on August 5, 2025, at the Shanmugaraja Meeting Hall, Usilai Road, Thirumangalam – a day dedicated to learning, sharing, and building a stronger, more inclusive community.

The event began with a vibrant awareness rally, with parents, children, teachers, volunteers, and supporters walking together to raise their voices for the rights and dignity of children with developmental disabilities. The colourful placards and collective energy set the tone for a powerful day ahead.

🎤 The programme commenced with the welcome address by Ms. P. Jasmine, B.P.T., Project Coordinator, FEATHERS.
🕯️ The symbolic lighting of the lamp by dignitaries and parents brought a spirit of unity and hope into the hall.

📚 Ms. R. Nageswari, Executive Director, FEATHERS, presented an inspiring overview of FEATHERS' journey, its impact in the community, and the wide range of educational and therapeutic services offered to children with special needs.

👨‍💼 A key moment was the Special Address by Mr. N. Saminathan, DPOE, M.A., District Differently Abled Welfare Officer, Madurai, who clearly explained how to obtain UDID Card for the children with disability, and various government welfare schemes available for them, and how parents can access these vital support systems. His session was both informative and empowering.

🧠 Ms. V. Navamani, Training Coordinator from Amar Seva Sangam, Ayikudi, delivered a thought-provoking keynote on the importance of self-care in the journey of supporting children with disabilities, emphasising that when parents are cared for, they can better care for their children.

💬 One of the most moving parts of the programme was the experience sharing by parents—stories of love, struggle, determination, and triumph. Their voices reminded everyone that behind every child with special needs is a family full of strength and resilience.

🎖️ The programme also included felicitations by Mr. Gurusamy, President, Rotary Club, and its Secretary, Mr. Jalees, and Mr. Balakrishnan, Proprietor, Madura Bakery. Trustees and Executive Committee Members of FEATHERS felicitated the event, honouring the hard work of parents, educators, and caregivers who continue to champion the cause of inclusion.

🙏 Ms. R. Karthika Suba, B.Sc., B.Ed., Special Educator, delivered the vote of thanks, expressing heartfelt gratitude to all who made the event a success.

This event was more than a gathering—it was a celebration of shared purpose, parental strength, and the transformative power of awareness and support.

✨ Thank you to every parent, guest, staff member, and supporter who stood with us. Let us continue to build an inclusive tomorrow, one child, one family, and one community at a time.

23/03/2025

A training workshop for the Government and Private Primary School Teachers on remediating learning disabilities was conducted by Feathers in Tirumangalam, Madurai on March 22, 2025. The workshop was attended by over 50 teachers including Headmistresses from the Government and Private Primary Schools functioning in Thirumangalam Block. K. Nithya, special education teacher delivered the welcome address.

The Executive Director of Feathers, Mrs. R. Nageswari, spoke about the works that FEATHERS has been doing for providing remedial education to over 300 students with learning difficulties and specific learning disabilities in 10 government schools. This training workshop focused on the basics of learning disability and intervention strategies to plan and implement structured remediation in the classroom and home settings. This initiative is supported by https://www.wiprofoundation.org/

The training programme covered various aspects of brain and cognitive processes, types of LD and Classroom manifestations, screening and assessment for Learning Disability, handling children with LD, expectations, labelling and mindsets. The participants were oriented to various intervention strategies for remediation including curricular adaptations and modifications. Mrs. Blossom Cygnet, a Special Educator and Junior Research Fellow from the Mother Teresa Women's University, spoke about the types of students with learning disabilities and how to prepare learning materials in a special way. The workshop stressed that since each student's abilities and needs are different, the materials we use should be appropriate for each student, students with learning disabilities should be taught through stories, songs and games to make their learning fun filled.

The headmasters from the Government Primary Schools shared their experience in the remediation process carried out with the Feathers Resource Team. Mrs. Sasikala, Special Educator from Feathers proposed a vote of thanks.

21/03/2025

Today, March 21st, FEATHERS team members and well-wishers are happy to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day.
Down syndrome is something we believe needs a lot of attention around the world.
At FEATHERS, we work with children with Down syndrome to make their lives better.
Together let's make a powerful voice to care, support, and enable children with Down Syndrome .

12/01/2025

Team FEATHERS wishes its Children, Parents and Well-wishers, a Happy Pongal. May this festival bring bountiful harvest, prosperity and usher brighter days ahead!

06/01/2025

03/01/2025

Today, FEATHERS has organised an Awareness Programme for Parents of Children with Developmental Disabilities in Thirumangalam, Madurai District, Tamil Nadu. The event began with a procession from Thevar Statue, Thirumangalam. Parents of children with developmental disabilities from Thirumangalam town and nearby villages participated in the rally and raised awareness slogans.

R Nageswari, Executive Director of FEATHERS in her opening address said “FEATHERS designed and launched the Poonthalir programme in Thirumangalam block in September 2023 with the support of Thoughtworks CSR and is expanding and continuing with the partnership of Azim Premji Foundation. So far, 110 children with developmental delays have been identified and enrolled in this Poonthalir programme across the block. Comprehensive home-based early intervention services are provided to all these children by a team of trained physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, special educators along with community rehabilitation workers. FEATHERS has partnered with Amar Seva Sangam, Ayikudi, which specialises in the rehabilitation of people with disabilities.”

Rajeswaran Senthilnathan, Chief Operating Officer, Amar Seva Sangam interacted with the parents of children with developmental disabilities. He said, "We need to look for any developmental deficiency in the child from the 3rd month itself. The whole family including parents and grandparents have an important role to play in supporting the child through early intervention. With proper early intervention and therapies, we can normalise the child's development and mainstream them in regular schools".

S Vijayalakshmi, Headmistress, Mohammadsha Puram Government Primary School, who was felicitated with the Dr Radhakrishnan Best Teacher Award - 2024, said, "Government schools provide equal opportunities to children with special needs. Along with FEATHERS we provide remedial education to children with learning disabilities in Government Primary Schools in Thirumangalam block".
K Saravanan, Supervisor, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Thirumangalam spoke about the educational opportunities for the children with special needs. He urged the parents to participate in the campaign organised in Thirumangalam on 7th January to apply for and obtain a disability ID card. P Selvi, Block Education Officer, Thirumangalam felicitated the event and stressed on the importance of inclusion in education.

Parents of children with whom FEATHERS is implementing the Community Based Early Intervention Programme shared their experiences. Monisha, mother of Adhikhsa from Kokkulam village said, "We have so far spent Rs. 80,000 on the treatment of my child who has been diagnosed with multiple disabilities. I am currently undergoing home therapy with the FEATHERS therapists, and I am seeing a lot of improvement. Her hyperactivity has reduced, and she is now making eye contact".

Another parent, Anitha, whose son Krishanth was diagnosed with developmental delay, said, "He did not sit up until he was one and a half years old. With the home-based intervention and therapies provided by the FEATHERS team, he is now able to walk".
FEATHERS trustees Manavalan and Ramamoorthy felicitated the occasion and interacted with the parents. P. Jasmine, Project Coordinator, FEATHERS welcomed the gathering, and K Nithya, Remedial Educator, FEATHERS proposed a vote of thanks.

31/12/2024

19/09/2024

FEATHERS offered a one-day intensive training to teachers involved in tutoring students in the evening tuition centres organised by PRADAN in 50 villages of Virudhunagar District, Tamil Nadu. The training focused on enhancing teaching-learning effectiveness. They were oriented on the basics of learning and cognitive development in children, different types of learners and their learning styles in a classroom, how to Identify learning difficulties in children, various remediation approaches for addressing issues in Reading, Writing, Spelling and Mathematics. They were trained on how to prepare simple teaching learning materials to use in the classrooms.
FEATHERS is a resource centre for learning disabilities, which works with the government primary schools in Thirumangalam Block, Madurai district to supplement with the existing efforts of the Government to address the issues of learning difficulties faced by the children. Read more about us at https://feathers.org.in

19/09/2024

FEATHERS continues its journey of providing community based early intervention at the doorstep of children with developmental delays in Thirumangalam Block, Madurai District. What we initiated with the CSR support of ThoughtWorks Technologies last year, we are committed to continue our work to reach and benefit children from all the 38 Panchayats of Thirumangalam Block.
We are grateful to Azim Premji Foundation for joining hands with us in furthering the cause of supporting children from poor and vulnerable communities in the rural areas of this block to get quality assessment, joint planning with the family, systematic and outcome-based intervention blended with technology-based platform.
Our Community Rehabilitation Workers, trained by the team of rehabilitation professionals including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, special educators, visit the villages on fixed schedules to provide therapies at the homes of the children along with their parents. FEATHERS has partnered with Amar Seva Sangam to train the field workers. A 3-day refresher training was organised at Amar Seva Sangam, Ayikudi, Tenkasi district from 17th to 19th September. Join us on this journey to transform lives! Your support can help us reach more children and families in need.
👉 Learn more about our initiatives and how you can contribute: https://feathers.org.in
Together, let’s make learning fun and accessible for every child! 🕊️