THRISSUR: The Association for Mentally Handicapped Adults (AMHA) has opened the state’s first toy library focusing on children with special needs. Titled Wonder Box, the toy library is an extension of the training and care provided by the institute — located at Karyattukara in Thirssur — for people with disabilities.
Wonder Box was inaugurated on December 3, marking the International Day for Persons with Disabilities.
According to AMHA founder P Bhanumati, many parents had shared a concern about a shortage of toys that help children with disabilities improve their skills.
“Often, the cost of sensory toys hinder the parents from ensuring an effective playtime for children. With the toy library, we hope to bridge this gap and make it available for all,” Bhanumati said.
While the well-wishers of AMHA have donated a bunch of toys, additional toys are being collected and Wonder Box will be fully functional by January 2025, she said.
The special toys are also useful in providing play therapy for children at home. The toys in the library cater to different development needs of the children. While some toys serve educational purposes by introducing alphabets, numbers, colours and shapes, some enable communication training.
“Through storytelling, sighting words, and question-based activities, these toys help children with disabilities improve their communication skills,” said P C Vasudevan, the library in-charge.
Activities like building blocks, jigsaw puzzle, and pattern-matching help develop critical thinking, while kitchen and doctor sets help improve imagination through pretend play, he said.
“Through a portal, parents can select the toys and borrow them from the AMHA centre. A toy can be used for a period of two weeks so that children can derive the maximum benefit from it,” Vasudevan added.
Once fully functional, the lending facility will be open to the students of AMHA. And the broader plan is to make the facility available for parents of children with disabilities after registration through the website.
While day care centres for adults with disabilities are rare Kerala, AMHA currently takes care of around 30 such persons. In addition, they have opened an autism school with facilities like sensory park.