NACD Comes to New Delhi, India

October 1st, 2005

It was a dream come true to NACD mom Shalini Gupta. Ever since her 3 year old daughter Gayathri started on our program and made incredible progress, mom Shalini was determined to bring NACD to India. She wanted other children in India to have the opportunity to develop to their fullest potential through our program. It took over a year of planning, marketing and fund-raising by Shalini and her family and friends for this dream to materialize.

Our hosts, the Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research (SBISR), provided us with our evaluation site and made all arrangements for two seminars by Mr Robert Doman Jr., founder and President of NACD. The first seminar, “Understanding education from a neurodevelopmental perspective” was held on Sept 26th for parents, teachers and therapists. This seminar was well attended and raised a lot of interest in our approach. The second seminar, on Oct 1st, was attended by prominent doctors from the SBISR and nearby hospitals. The audience included leading pediatricians, neonatologists and other medical specialists. This seminar focused on auditory sequential processing and global neurologic function and was very well received.

During the week, Mr Doman evaluated and designed individualized programs for over 25 clients, from infants to young adults, with a range of symptoms and diagnoses such as Downs Syndrome, Autism, Brain Injury, ADD and Normal. The families came to Delhi from different parts of India and Nepal. We worked with the most wonderful children, and their loving parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts. Many of them came with supportive teachers and aides wanting to help implement the NACD program. We provided hands on training for each family on how to implement program for their child.

India was a wonderful heartwarming experience for us. We had the opportunity to share our passion and expertise with families and professionals who were of like minds and hearts. The hospitality in India was incomparable, with utmost pains taken to ensure our comfort and well being. But most of all, it was the chance to help the lovely children strive for a better future. Of course, the food was delicious and the traffic exhilarating!

We would like to thank all the hardworking people who made the India chapter possible: Shalini and Shalendra Gupta for their passion and perseverance, Mr Abishek Bhartia, Director of Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Science and Research, and his entire staff for their impeccable arrangements and warm hospitality, Mr and Mrs Ramachandran, President of the Downs Syndrome Association of India, for their sponsorship and support, Mr Sushil Gupta of the Qutub Hotel and his staff for their hospitality and sponsorship, Ambika and Prabath Aggarwal for their ongoing support and sponsorship, and all the volunteers that made this trip possible.

We look forward to a continued fellowship and collaboration with our associates in India and a bright future for NACD India.