A sky-high experience for special children in Chennai

Sports and leisure activities meant for special children are hardly imaginable, as they remain dependent on their wheelchairs or simply because there aren’t any activities that are designed specifically for them.

But nearly 250 special children had the opportunity to soar to the skies and have an unparalleled experience of parasailing, that offered them breathtaking views of the Besant Nagar beach in the Chennai.

The special parasailing event was conducted for five days as a part of the 35th-anniversary celebrations of Vidya Sagar, a rights-based organization, with emphasis on creating awareness in the community on issues related to disability and advocating rights for persons with disabilities. They support and train special children who are rejected by other schools, such as those with motor disability, visual, speech or intellectual impairment, autism and other learning difficulties.

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“My kids too are special-needs kids and they experienced such adventure sports during their childhood and it made a huge difference, so we believe that why not most special children get to experience this? Even if the kids want to experience it, who gives them the chance? Even a small improvement in their self-esteem is a positive change” said Radha Ramesh, the director of Vidya Sagar.

A parachute equipped with a special harness that could accommodate 2 people- a special-needs child and a faculty member/trainer was attached to a jeep that would be driven for a few meters on the beach sand, thus helping the strong breeze to inflate and elevate the parachute. For nearly 5 minutes the child and the faculty would be suspended mid-air to enjoy the breathtaking views.

“For our needs, we are using a better harness, more safety measures are in place and around 15-20 staff are present for ensuring it happens with utmost care. We've also got the requisite permission from the authorities. Sports is always important for children, our kids dream of having a wheelchair-friendly path until the beach. All over the world beaches are accessible and Wheelchairs can go till the water, but unfortunately, that’s not the case in India. So we thought that parasailing can be made a reality for our kids and they can see and enjoy how the world looks like from a height” Poonam Natrajan, the founder of Vidya Sagar told WION.

Vidya Sagar provides delivery of services, focus on early intervention, special education, physiotherapy, speech and communication therapy, vision training, occupational therapy, co-curricular activities, counselling, vocational training, exploring and creating employment opportunities and training of resource persons to work in the field of disability.

Meena, a parent who has been associated with Vidya Sagar says that she is happy that the school will send kids on such adventure sports, only if it's very safe. It was done with the consent of parents and students, we’ve been shown then trials and also there were classes for a safety briefing.

“The kids enjoy when they are joined by their friends and it empowers them and celebrates inclusion”, she told WION.