MEDHA - an initiative of Sankara Healthcare Foundation, turns 2

“Medha”, meaning intellect, is an initiative to provide children of Indian origin with autism and other special-needs, a platform for social interaction, cultural instruction, and motor skills development and a community support forum for their families.

This project was initiated in November 2019, in Boston, MA with the blessings of His Holiness of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham.

The classes provide group instruction that encourage interaction with peers, as well as individual instruction that is catered towards specific needs of the child.

Medha has evolved from a small community initiative to a national project in the two years of its existence. Medha on the East Coast has fifteen registered children, whose conditions range from low functioning to high functioning but with speech delays and attention deficit disorders.

Following Acharya’s advice to include some life skills, we have also started Math classes for the kids to supplement what they do in school. Two trained math teachers help with this.

This year we have also introduced three students as junior teachers who, under the guidance of the adult teachers, work with the children as well. They do a wonderful job of teaching the children, and the Medha kids respond well to these junior teachers.

There are 7 adult sloka teachers/volunteers, 3 junior teachers and 2 teachers/volunteers who help with Math and Reading as life skills. The teachers meet the children in group settings where they learn basic yoga, samskritam greetings, nitya parayana slokas and bhajans, reading of short passages of our Hindu Gods and Goddesses as well as simple crafts to help with their motor skills.

One on ones are catered to the child’s level. The stotrams taught range from simple short slokams/bhajans to Ashtakams, Adiyta Hrdayam, Bhagavad Gita for the kids who can handle that.

We are very happy to note that the Medha Program was introduced in the West coast this past Vijayadasami. In the west coast, we have four registered students and five teachers - three adult teachers, and two student teachers.

These children all get to perform regularly at Guru Pujas and satsangs.

With Acharya’s blessings, we hope to expand to more regions to help more children and their families, and also get these children to participate in matham organized activities in India.

Get Involved

To learn more about this project or to get involved, contact us at https://www.giftofhealth.us/medha and click on “Contact Us” at the bottom of the page.

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