KOZHIKODE: From morning till evening, they work overcoming their mental disability and make a variety of pillows. Be it decorative pillows for sofa sets or cushions or those for the bedrooms or hospitals, the students of the vocational training unit of Ashakiran School for the Differently Abled, Devagiri, beautifully make them, proving that they are above par in the skills, having received the right kind of training. They sew pillow cases, cut the sponges, fill and weigh it and even deliver the finished products to shops. With mild to severely challenged children in the group, pillow-making keeps them engaged in the tasks, besides providing them expertise in a job-oriented skill and a self-employment opportunity.
The 22-member group delivers around 30 pillows per week to shops near the Medical College Hospital and takes other orders as well. “For the transition of the children from school to work, we focus on skill-based training. Small activities to attain concentration and coordination are conducted from the smaller classes itself. We make them concentrate on a single task that they are capable of and move on to another with higher difficulty once they have learnt it. Those who complete the age of 18 years come to the vocational unit where they receive training on job-oriented skills,” says Daisy Jayaraj, a teacher at the school. A pre-vocational unit comprising those in an age group of 15 to 17 is also there at the school as a preparatory phase for the job-oriented tasks by making them achieve eye-hand coordination, time management, responsibility in their work, punctuality, etc. by being skilled in various crafts like jewellery-making, flower-making, painting works, etc.
“We have adopted pillow-making in the unit, as children irrespective of their mental disability level can participate in its making. Those who cannot handle scissors can even cut the sponge into pieces by hand,” points out Vijayalekshmi, who trains the children.
“We had earlier packed pickles and medicine packets, but making pillows seems to be more interesting,” says Shiju, a student.
“I too like to make pillows as the shivering of my hands is not an obstacle for the task of cutting the sponge,” says Jalal, another student. “People are often suspicious of the products made by differently-abled children, about their perfection, hygiene, etc., but such problems do not affect the pillow market and we stick on to it,” says Daisy.
Apart from the nearby shops, the major consumers of the children’s products are parents and other visitors to the school who order for the products after seeing them exhibited at the school during any programme. The students from educational institutions in the locality also approach the school. “The decorative pillows costing around Rs 250 to Rs 300 as well as those for the bedrooms are often sold among these visitors. We make them pillows of any size according to their demand,” says Vijayalekshmi.
The students at the pre-vocational unit recently made more than 100 umbrellas as per the order of a parent and are now busy making pillows and other products for the school’s stall at the Kozhikode flower show to be held in January.