Events of the last six to eight months (such as killing of Dalits, rationalists, lynching) are unconscionable. But the furor being caused by Aamir Khan’s remarks on increasing intolerance is disgusting. And while my world view is coloured by my own experiences of living the past 29 years with a person with autism, I begin

Pratibha joined the Arpan family in April, 2014 when we were still experimenting with our new venture. At the time, we were not sure of our direction and therefore neither was she. But she went with the flow. Now she loves to come to work and hates to miss a single day. She is wonderfully

A few days ago, there was an excited message from Ashaita saying the FB page had ‘exploded with messages and wishes and appreciation’. It brought a smile. Social media is wonderful! Yes, we want our page to get a lot of `likes’ and spread the word. A growing clientele helps enormously. Importantly our young employees

Having been at work in Pune on the occasion of Guru Purnima, I was gheraoed by several employees insisting that they touch my feet. It was embarrassing to say the least. I am no guru; I consider myself a life-long shishya . I tried to explain. But they would have none of it. According to

It has been just over three months now that we have begun our dabba service as a way to provide sheltered employment to individuals with developmental disabilities. It is a work in progress and we have a ways to go. Most importantly, the experiences that our team is sharing are necessary for us all: those

Two days ago we had another near-deluge in the suburbs of Mumbai where our workplace is located. The roads were flooded, cars stalled in various places and traffic crawled. Needless to say, our young employees had a day off. Yes, they were disappointed and yes, we received message after message asking what we were doing!

So what does an enhanced quality of life look like for those of us who do not have disabilities ? Is it one where we are in optimum health in all three spheres of the psychological, physical and spiritual? Where we develop close relationships, have family close by and a circle of dear friends to

June 21 has been declared as the International Yoga Day. Sri Swami Sivananda writes that Yoga is a way of life, not divorced from it; Yoga is not forsaking of action, but is efficient performance in the right spirit. Amongst other things, Yoga is about cultivating values such as friendliness, non-violence, and desirelessness. It is

The focus of this blog changed overnight from a discussion on quality of life to a lesson delivered by a fallen tree. So at our center in Juhu, which is all of 200 sq. ft., we have put up a temporary awning for the monsoons. It is a makeshift structure comprising of bamboo and plastic

In his article, “50,000 People With Autism Need Jobs This Year: Here’s Why You Should Hire Them” (http://www.inc.com/magazine/201506/jeff-chu/making-it-work-the-spectrum-of-debate.html), Jeff Chu makes a compelling case for small businesses to see opportunity in (employing) people who are different. While the article points out that small businesses can successfully create supportive environments by among other things, tailoring the