Transcript
Speaker: Hello and welcome to Thriving on the Spectrum, the podcast dedicated to empowering and supporting young adults with autism on their journey towards a fulfilling life.
Speaker: I'm your host, Arpata Mohan, and together we'll explore invaluable insights, expert advice, and personal stories that shed light on the unique opportunities and challenges young adults with autism encounter.
Speaker: So if you're a parent, caregiver, friend or ally, join us as we explore possibilities to help young adults with autism thrive.
Speaker: Today will be our final episode in this series.
Speaker: It's a special one for us as we talk about the Cambridge Academy.
Speaker: So we're in conversation with Bina and Srivathya, who are representatives of the Cambridge parent community.
Speaker: They're here to share the collective reflection of the wider community at Cambridge on the trainings offered to enable young adults to live away from their families.
Speaker: Bina Mohan is the mother of 28-year-old Ahad.
Speaker: She has 20 years of experience in this field of special education and now offers services as a mental health care professional.
Speaker: Srivadya Alavandar is the mother of a 20-year-old young adult with ASD.
Speaker: A parent professional, she has nine years of experience working with children with special needs.
Speaker: currently working across children from middle school to high secondary at APL school.
Speaker: She also takes remedial intervention for skill building for school children.
Speaker: We also have Shardhan Kavita, the co-founders and co-directors of Cambridge Academy on this podcast today.
Speaker: So hi, everyone.
Speaker: It's really lovely to meet you.
Speaker: Hi, Arpita.
Speaker: Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker: Awesome.
Speaker: Really excited to have you here.
Speaker: And yeah, let's kick it off with Bina to start off with.
Speaker: So Bina, could you tell us a little bit about how the different channels for meaningful engagement at Cambridge, you know, helps young adults be more independent of their families?
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Arpita, when we as parents envision our children living away from us, be it in an assisted living facility, be it even next door to us,
Speaker: in another apartment or house, or even living with your siblings or extended family, what a typical day for us looks like is then being able to contribute with the skills that they have learned, work-related skills, or what we call as vocational skills, and then having the time to pursue their hobbies or personal interests, and then having the leisure time to indulge.
Speaker: So if we were to take these separate areas of engagement, let's talk about the work-related skills first.
Speaker: Two skills or two vocational skills that Cambridge offers, and it's just part of their module, is cooking and weaving.
Speaker: Cooking is something that was started from day one.
Speaker: And what we have noticed is that some of them have gone to love cooking and have gone ahead and are doing internships now outside Cambridge.
Speaker: in an inclusive environment and the others who have not yet reached there or maybe are not wanting to do that, they come home, they're able to make a snack for themselves, juice, tea and with very minimum assistance.
Speaker: And some of them, I think, are already making on their own too.
Speaker: So that's one cooking, a vocational skill.
Speaker: And the other one is weaving.
Speaker: Cambridge has looms.
Speaker: has given options to the youngsters to choose the colors and the threads they want to weave and they weave fabrics.
Speaker: And these fabrics get converted into products.
Speaker: And these are products that are given for sale across other NGOs and other exhibitions and stalls that they hold.
Speaker: And there you see our youngsters being able to see something that they have done being converted into a product.
Speaker: So these two vocational skills, like I said,
Speaker: Whether they choose both of them, one of them, or even if they just use it to like the cooking skill to come back and just make a snack or juice of their own, that would be a great thing for us parents to see.
Speaker: So from a work-related skill, quickly moving on to the personal interests or hobbies that Cambridge offers in their module.
Speaker: The three main ones are art-related, so that is music, movement, and the visual arts.
Speaker: And here what Cambridge has let the youngsters do or facilitated the youngsters do is these interests open it all for exploration and now based on their pace and based on what they show more of a leaning to is what the Cambridge has taken them forward in.
Speaker: So which then this personal interest, very interestingly,
Speaker: has then helped them more to leisure skills.
Speaker: Now, one of the AAC modes that Cambridge uses is the AwaS app.
Speaker: And almost now all our youngsters have gadgets.
Speaker: Since they use it for communication across the day.
Speaker: So with their phones and their iPads, what has happened is these leisure skills have improved.
Speaker: While they use it for communication, they also use it to surf the web.
Speaker: You have some of them choosing your own music, any genre, looking at various type of videos.
Speaker: Some of them play games.
Speaker: And some of them use their leisure just to do nothing.
Speaker: Yeah, that's the three areas of engagement that mainly that is offered by Cambridge.
Speaker: Yeah, that sounds great.
Speaker: And yeah, just to that point, I really like how like holistic it is generally.
Speaker: I mean, we've spoken about this before too, but it's just the fact that there's so much like holistic focus at Cambridge and that's really lovely to hear.
Speaker: Moving over to you, Sri Vidya.
Speaker: So most parents have spoken about, you know, the point of transformation related to food and meals, for instance.
Speaker: So could you give us some examples about what Cambridge is doing in this area and how that's helping these young individuals?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yes, to answer this, let me tell you what are the activities we are doing at Cambridge.
Speaker: The young adults, they do a lot of activities around foot.
Speaker: Like they have lunch preparations on a daily routine and they have, they go outside to the mall and have lunch along with the other students.
Speaker: So based on these activities, which is happening around Cambridge, there are a lot of skills which we see as parents have been developing and developed.
Speaker: A few examples I would like to take is some of the kids who were very picky eaters.
Speaker: They started eating in a new place, a new food.
Speaker: That's a tremendous progress, I would say, as a parent because it's like they have developed that skill.
Speaker: And this has come through only practice and training by Ken Rich.
Speaker: Two of them who are very picky eaters, now they're comfortable eating something new.
Speaker: They've tried, so it's a big progress.
Speaker: The next activity is what they do is choice making.
Speaker: Like any other individual, when you eat food, they like to eat preferred food, like all of us.
Speaker: So there are a lot of communication skills also developed around food.
Speaker: Like they are given a choice of two menus.
Speaker: So they choose what they like to eat.
Speaker: And I think it's very fair enough to give that opportunity to choose what they like.
Speaker: And there are some like very, very good experiences as parents we have come across at home.
Speaker: You know, the skills which is developed there.
Speaker: It has come to the home front.
Speaker: For example, some children we see that they have started communicating in terms of taste.
Speaker: For example, there are a few kids like Nare, Nanak and Ram.
Speaker: They have started saying that they want more sugar, which is really a good progress, I would say.
Speaker: So there's a lot of things.
Speaker: I feel like food is a kind of love language.
Speaker: Now there's a 50% of the young adults who are like, who don't know, they love food for whatever reason.
Speaker: So what they do is they never say no.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So like there are skills, like they have been taught like portion size and limitations.
Speaker: And these are skills on a daily basis.
Speaker: I think it's a basic need for any individual.
Speaker: So these are like, they do it not at home, it's outside.
Speaker: at the center than in the mall.
Speaker: like various places and that's how a skill is achieved across places, across people and that's an amazing skill which will create independence when they live away from their families, what I feel strongly.
Speaker: So that's become now food has become a kind of language for them, a love language, what everyone enjoys nowadays.
Speaker: When they gather together, they hang out with the peers, they love being with the peers and there's a lot of communication happening
Speaker: When they are exchanging, eating together, you know, being aware of a social setting like a lunch or an outing is something really a good skill, I would say.
Speaker: It's like basic for anybody.
Speaker: But as parents, we see it's very important when they live outside, you know, a home away from the family.
Speaker: And that is something amazing is what I would say.
Speaker: No, that was really well put.
Speaker: And yeah, exactly that.
Speaker: I think, you know, from a parent's perspective, just to see, you know, these skills being built in the children and, you know, how they've been able to develop all of these independently is definitely like a testament to how things are.
Speaker: So that sounds really great.
Speaker: And you make that point about, you know, the fact about like living independently and wanting to build those skills.
Speaker: So I guess this brings me to the next question as well.
Speaker: You know, like one of the things is we want to see our adults live in the community with the requisite support that each one of them may need.
Speaker: Sabina, what is Cambridge doing here like today that would help these young individuals integrate into the community as and when they're moving away from their families?
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: I think Srividyat gave a brief glimpse into that by talking about how they go into restaurants.
Speaker: And so that's a regular outing they do.
Speaker: They all go into the restaurants, choose the menu that they want to have.
Speaker: And again, all those who use ABAs as their AAC mode, carry it along with them.
Speaker: And over the, I think, years, we have seen that very short of what they want to eat.
Speaker: Okay, there's no more.
Speaker: So the choices also that Sri Vidya was mentioning has helped them so much.
Speaker: Apart from that, she was also talking about how they make lunch at Cambridge.
Speaker: That's a regular thing.
Speaker: All five days a week, they make lunch.
Speaker: So for lunch, what they do is they go shopping.
Speaker: So starting from shopping for vegetables at the local vegetable vendors, which is actually, I think, a cart they used to go to.
Speaker: Now moving on to a grocery store,
Speaker: And now mall, shopping at a supermarket in a mall.
Speaker: So they get various opportunities to go out in the community and be part of the community and just be like any other community, do the things that all of us do.
Speaker: Apart from this, fitness, a very, very important thing that Cambridge has taken it as part of their module is being carried out now in the community gyms.
Speaker: We all go to gyms.
Speaker: They go to thrice a week.
Speaker: They go to the gyms.
Speaker: Some of them go to other NGOs that also train in a particular type of fitness programs.
Speaker: And so there's gyms, there's restaurants, there's shopping at the local stores.
Speaker: And there are sometimes day-long outings.
Speaker: They go to the beach house and spend the whole day with their peer group.
Speaker: Some of us parents also join because we want to.
Speaker: And apart from that, they also, I remember this one particular one, if I have the time just to add that.
Speaker: They went to somewhere on the outskirts, to a farm on the outskirts of Chennai.
Speaker: And they spent the whole day there.
Speaker: And when they were coming back, remember they got stuck in a traffic jam.
Speaker: And you won't believe when the faculty and they went at eight in the morning and came back at nine in the night.
Speaker: Yes, some of us were on pins, but we were constantly updated by the team, of course.
Speaker: And when they came back, the stories we heard were like how well they coped, knowing that we were stuck in traffic.
Speaker: And I think they ran out of food also, if I'm not wrong, but they just knew.
Speaker: Yeah, that's it.
Speaker: So what I would say is the right kind of support people, be buddies, facilitators,
Speaker: you know, who understand them well and them becoming comfortable, trusting them, getting the confidence.
Speaker: I think they can go out anywhere in the community and access any environment at Pita today.
Speaker: All of them.
Speaker: That sounds amazing.
Speaker: And I really love that example that you brought in as well.
Speaker: Like it just shows about, I mean, I think we take these things for granted, just knowing how to like cope with stresses to like cope with challenges and the fact that, you know, this is something that's being built at Cambridge and it's really reflecting in how gaining those specific skills as well for life is really, really great.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: um this brings me actually to the last question uh which is for shrividya so yeah both of you are here today as representatives for the band community and we've spoken a lot about like these like hard skills that they get these other skills that relate to like work leisure but i want to switch over to more soft skills so from your perspective shrividya and from what you've heard from parents um what do they observe with respect to social interactions this is my favorite part so
Speaker: There's a lot of things happening around communication.
Speaker: So naturally, social interactions would definitely come as a package into it.
Speaker: So our kids feel more safe and secure in the group.
Speaker: And they like to hang around with the peers.
Speaker: They really enjoy going along with their peers, staffs and other facilitators.
Speaker: They're very comfortable now traveling outside home.
Speaker: to the mall.
Speaker: And this is kind of a social engagement any adult would have at this particular age, like above 18.
Speaker: They usually hang on outside home.
Speaker: So I think this is one of the important skills.
Speaker: And there's one of the parents shared that there is a lot of nonverbal communication happening within the group.
Speaker: And it's kind of a secret which
Speaker: which we are not able to see, but they are communicating is one of the parents she has shared.
Speaker: Like they're very comfortable with the peers.
Speaker: They also go for home visits where there's a lot of, you know, socialization happening outside home to another parent's house.
Speaker: So it's again an additional, a different place they're visiting.
Speaker: So this circle of support,
Speaker: what has been developed outside the family, the immediate family, with the staff, the volunteers, parents, and other parents.
Speaker: We have a lot of, you know, get together on festivals also, which adds on to it.
Speaker: You know, we have a lot of get together happening with the peers and the parents.
Speaker: So we, this, this, this is an important skill is what I feel.
Speaker: And this skill has been developed for some of them.
Speaker: I would not say completely developed.
Speaker: They are,
Speaker: slowly starting developing which is again a skill outside of immediate family i think uh we are looking forward to more of such outings like kids parents are also looking forward to such outings and come like something we really enjoy you know i'm sure of that and that sounds really great i i think the point that you made about
Speaker: the supportive community that they're building outside of family too.
Speaker: That's really, really lovely to hear.
Speaker: And it's like refreshing as well to just know how, yeah, you don't necessarily know what the recipe for success is, but it's just great to hear that they're able to communicate with each other.
Speaker: They're making those steps to get a little bit more communicative with others in the community too.
Speaker: It's been lovely having both of you here and just sharing the perspectives of the brand community at Cambridge.
Speaker: I wanted to check with you if you had any last thoughts that both of you would like to share before we wrap up this episode.
Speaker: I just want to add, like your podcast is named Thriving on the Spectrum.
Speaker: And yeah, what we have seen ever since Cambridge start is our youngsters thriving in almost all areas.
Speaker: And one more thing I want to add is watching them thrive, being away from them as a parent,
Speaker: What has, especially for me, what I've learned over the years is to miss my son.
Speaker: And people don't think much about this, missing your child.
Speaker: But for us, so tomorrow we know when a day comes, he has to live away from us.
Speaker: I will know what it is to miss him and he will also know what it is to miss his mom.
Speaker: And I know he'll be fine.
Speaker: Thank you so much, Arpita.
Speaker: And thank you, Cambridge, Sharda and Kavita.
Speaker: I don't know what we would have done without you guys.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: I'm going, I'm going to go a step higher.
Speaker: What Bina has shared.
Speaker: I've always dreamt of something like a friend of a different gender, you know?
Speaker: So I'm seeing that he's more comfortable with a new group.
Speaker: Most of the kids are, they're very comfortable and they're used to this.
Speaker: It's become a part of their life now.
Speaker: And, um,
Speaker: I would like his circle to even broaden.
Speaker: And this message to reach people, it should be so strong that they should embrace and accept these kind of idols in the community, give them opportunities for thriving.
Speaker: And not just thriving, a meaningful life for them, you know, and a respect life for them.
Speaker: So something like a friend of a different gender, Naren has never explored.
Speaker: So Kavita and Sharda, please help me.
Speaker: So he's already 20.
Speaker: So maybe as Bina said, or as parents, I'm also into the same type, like where we have to be, you know, make them independent and be away from them.
Speaker: Someday I dream that I will experience the emptiness syndrome, like when kids walk away from your life.
Speaker: That's we all long for.
Speaker: It's something like a good thing, but also we miss our kids.
Speaker: But this is something I have dreamt for a long time.
Speaker: Thank you for the opportunity, Sharda and Kavita.
Speaker: It's lovely having you here, Harpita.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Thank you both.
Speaker: It's been great having you on this episode and it was just lovely to hear just how positive the experience has been and the impact that
Speaker: canbridge has had so yeah it was really lovely to hear both your perspectives turning over to you sharada and kavita i mean just hearing what bina and shrividya had to say which was representative of the whole community at canbridge it's really a testament to the work that you've been doing and just the impact that you've had on them so i'd love to hear your thoughts as to what you have to say
Speaker: Yeah, first up, I'd like to thank Sri Vidya and Beena for collectively sharing the thoughts of all the parents' community of Cambridge.
Speaker: And it's really heartening that parents see what we are doing as contributing to building the skills for their youngsters, for living away from their families.
Speaker: I think, you know, this is really giving us a lot of encouragement.
Speaker: Isn't it, Gavita?
Speaker: Oh, yes, absolutely.
Speaker: And yeah, it's heartening.
Speaker: I mean, I was a bit embarrassed, but it's also nice.
Speaker: It's really nice to hear what parents have to say.
Speaker: It's a validation of everything that we do.
Speaker: So that was nice.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: And I'm glad you guys got to hear that.
Speaker: It might seem embarrassing, but I think you need to know the positive impact that you've had as well.
Speaker: On that note, this is also the final episode for us in our first season, basically.
Speaker: Would you have any thoughts as to how this podcast journey has been for you?
Speaker: Yeah, it's been very exciting, Arpita.
Speaker: And I think it's been a kind of a roller coaster.
Speaker: So for me as a parent, you know, each recording brought up a lot of feelings and thoughts.
Speaker: So sometimes I would feel that, you know, other parents or other mothers are doing so much.
Speaker: And what have I done?
Speaker: You know, I would be faced with those kind of feelings.
Speaker: At other times when organizations were talking and organizations who had a lot more experience than we have had, it would seem like, you know, there is a long way that we have to go and there is a lot we have to do.
Speaker: But I think overall, if I look at the whole, you know, the podcast series itself, I think and having listened to so many of our fabulous guests,
Speaker: I think what I'm left with is the feeling that a lot is happening in the space of working with young adults with autism.
Speaker: And it's very, very hopeful and very encouraging.
Speaker: I think the future, I mean, sometimes you always feel that what's happening and what's going to be the future for our children.
Speaker: It seems very bleak, but I think having heard all these people, I feel there is so much happening in so many places that I think, yes, I think the doors are beginning to open and that augurs very well for our youngsters.
Speaker: Absolutely, Kavita.
Speaker: And I think we hope that this podcast builds a more active community.
Speaker: So though we are saying the target audience of this podcast is for the community of parents and organizations who are working with autism, I think the community at large also would benefit a lot to know the reality and the struggles and the
Speaker: You know, the hope that is there to build this community to help these young individuals with autism to strive and also, you know, to help them to also thrive, like how the title of our podcast is.
Speaker: So I think that is a message I would like the larger community to take home.
Speaker: Yeah, I also feel, you know, the podcast wouldn't have been possible if not for so many people who have worked together.
Speaker: I mean, it's really been a collective effort.
Speaker: Like even what happens at Cambridge is like a team effort.
Speaker: So whatever Sri Vidya and Bina were talking about today is really the result of the entire Cambridge team, which has worked so hard over the last five and a half years.
Speaker: So I think the podcast also has been a collective effort.
Speaker: And I mean, I think this would not have been possible without Arpita because she's so gamely, you know, I mean, she just kind of jumped into it.
Speaker: And she's been fabulous because she's not somebody who's
Speaker: you know, in that sense, a part of the larger autism ecosystem.
Speaker: I mean, this was a new arena or a new area for her.
Speaker: And yet, I mean, she just jumped into it.
Speaker: She did her reading.
Speaker: She did her research.
Speaker: And the way she, you know, conducted the whole podcast, it would be as if
Speaker: It's been something that, you know, she's been a part of the community itself.
Speaker: So thank you so much, Arpita, because truly, and I'm not just saying it as a formality, but truly, I don't think this podcast would have been possible if not for you.
Speaker: And you've just brought so much energy, so much enthusiasm and such a deep sense of professionalism to the whole exercise.
Speaker: So thank you very much for that.
Speaker: We've also had other people who've helped us.
Speaker: Shashank Rajaram, who has helped us with the editing and ensuring that all the technical things are in place.
Speaker: Deepika Khatri from the Curiosity Collective, who was the first person we reached out to because we didn't know.
Speaker: anything about what a podcast is at all.
Speaker: And she's the one who, you know, kind of handheld us in the initial days, giving us both confidence, you know, that we can do it and also the direction that we were seeking at that time.
Speaker: Ashna Sanghi, who is a part of the Canbridge team, who's, you know, worked with all the visuals which are going with the podcast.
Speaker: And Mala Chinapa, whom, of course, our listeners have met in an episode earlier and whose talent also lies in naming things.
Speaker: So she's been the one who's behind all the titles for the podcast.
Speaker: So thanks to all of you.
Speaker: I think this podcast has been possible really because of each of you.
Speaker: you know, giving it so much.
Speaker: And last but not the least, really all our guests, because each one of them has been so open, so, you know, generous in sharing their expertise, their experience, their wisdom.
Speaker: And I think that has really added to the content and the richness of the podcast, which is just wonderful.
Speaker: So thank you, everybody.
Speaker: No, that was awesome.
Speaker: And no, I think this was embarrassing for me to listen to as well now.
Speaker: But looking back, I mean, really at the whole experience, just from when we had our first episode on, you know, the introduction, what the prologue would look like and to where we stand right now.
Speaker: It's been a really exciting journey.
Speaker: And yeah, I hope that we can consider season two as well.
Speaker: And fingers crossed for that.
Speaker: Thank you so much for joining us today.
Speaker: If you haven't already, make sure to subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform so you never miss an episode filled with inspiration, support, and hope.
Speaker: Until next time, take care, stay positive, and keep thriving.
