Dr. Deshkeerti Menon- Senior Clinical Psychologist and Policy consultant

Deshkeerti

Dr Desh Keerti Menon, is a Clinical Psychologist by training. Dr. Menon has been active in the fields of Mental Health, Disability Rehabilitation and Intellectual Disability. He began his professional career in 1971 and sought retirement in 2011.

During 2000-2011, Dr. Menon was Principal Clinical Psychologist, Community Health Team, Specialist Learning Disability Psychological Service, Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, St Albans, Hertfordshire, UK. For approximately 16 years from 1984 up to 2000 Dr. Menon was Director of the National Institute for Empowerment of persons with Intellectual Disability, Manovikas Nagar, Secunderabad-500 009, Andhra Pradesh. Dr. Menon also served as Senior Research officer, Division of Non Communicable Diseases, Indian Council for Medical Research, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi from 1981 to 1884.

His areas of interest have been Applied Behaviour Analysis in Challenging Behaviours, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy in Anger, Anxiety and Depression; Dialectic Behaviour Therapy for persons with Borderline Personality Disorders; Aging and Dementia in Down’s syndrome, Assessment for Capacity to give Consent, Rights and Equal Opportunities for persons with Intellectual Disability; Individual and Group training on Friendship and Relationship for Persons with Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. His hobbies are Hiking and Trekking, Cycling, Reading.

The Serrendip is fortunate and enriched through this association as Dr. Menon is a guide and a mentor to many.

Dr. Pradeep Dubey-Developmental Pediatrician

Dr. Pradeep Dubey

Dr. Pradeep Dubey is a Developmental Pediatrician based in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. He specializes in Developmental Disorders and Child Neurology. He has over thirty years of experience in the field of Pediatrics.

He also runs Adiguru Child Neurology Center in Jabalpur, which caters to the diagnosis and early intervention of kids with Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation, Learning Disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Dr. Dubey is offering an exemplary care and medical help to infants, children and adolescents. He has been seen as a renowned medical practitioner and has earned a wide recognition over the years. This acclaimed medical specialist has turned out to be the first choice for pediatric care for the residents in the city of Jabalpur.

The Serrendip is honored to be associated with Dr. Dubey and would seek his guidance and support.

Prof. Rubina Lal- Senior Special Educational Consultant

Dr Rubina Lal

Prof. Rubina Lal has been in the field of Special Education for over 36 years. She began her career as a special educator and mastered in many many related areas. Until 2013 she was a Professor at the Dept. of Special Education, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai.  She has been a recipient of Fulbright Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship (2003-04) for a research study on Autism Spectrum Disorders. She is a member, Board of Directors (2002-06) International Society for Alternative & Augmentative Communication (ISAAC), Canada. She is the chairperson, Expert Committee for Autism and Multiple Disabilities, Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI), Govt. of India, New Delhi and  a Panel Expert, State Coordination Committee for Child Protection, Maharashtra.

She has several published papers to her credit.

The Serrendip is honored to be associated with her and would seek her guidance.

Dr. Prathibha Karanth- Senior Speech and Hearing Specialist

Dr. Prathibha Karanth

Dr. (Mrs.) Prathibha Karanth is the Founder Director & Managing Trustee of The Com DEALL Trust, Bangalore. Previously, she has worked at NIMHANS, Bangalore and AIISH, Mysore. She took voluntary retirement from AIISH Mysore, as Professor in 1996.

Her contribution in the field of Speech and Hearing has fetched her many awards. She is associated with many renowned Government and private organisations as an expert of the field. She has written over 15 books and manuals, (available in English, Hindi and Kannada), over 80 research papers   available at academia.edu and researchgate.

She is a professional who provides practical guidance to parents. The Serrendip is proud to have an association with her.

Dr. Vanitha Rao- Psychologist- (Autism Consultant) & Special Educator

Dr. Vanitha Rao

Dr. Vanitha Rao is a Developmental Psychologist and Autism Consultant. She is the Founder Director  Sunshine Autism Trust, based in Bangalore.  She has 25 years of experience working with children with autism and other developmental disabilities and as a teacher trainer for professionals working in the field of autism. Her primary area of interest is early intervention and parent training though she has experience in working with individuals of all ages. She also has keen interest in research and has published a few papers to her credit.  She is a founder member of Autism Society of India.

The Serrendip is honored to be associated with this young inspirational professional.

Mr. Milind Sonawane- Audiology and Speech Language Therapy Consultant

Milind Sonawane

Mr. Milind Sonawane completed his Master’s degree in Audiology and Speech Language Therapy from the University Of Mysore, India in 1999. Mr. Milind Sonawane started his professional career from Nashik, Maharashtra, India working for a special school and lecturing D.Ed. colleges. In 2002 he moved to Singapore and worked for 05 years in a special school setting. Later he moved to Ireland in 2007 and has been working there for past 10 years. His job is to provide communication rehabilitation services to clients with from cradle to grave and teaching in local universities. Mr. Milind Sonawane is also a consultant SLT with NeuroHero Company producing clinically useful apps for people with speech and language difficulties called “talk around it”. Mr. Milind Sonawane worked as a consultant Therapy director for a health care company in Beijing called LIH healthcare in China providing quality healthcare in China, setting clinics , training local therapists and directing services.

His work Profile includes assessment, diagnosis and rehabilitation of clients presenting with Speech and Language disorders from paediatric to geriatric case loads. Mr. Milind Sonawane is certified and validated to work in India, Singapore and Ireland (EU) countries. Mr. Milind Sonawane works as a part of a MDT team of professionals working with as an Inter disciplinary team based approach. Mr. Milind Sonawane is certified and has practised various evidence based techniques such as PECS, Visual Supports, Autism Diagnosis, DISCO & ADOS, floor time etc.

Mr. Milind Sonawane still works with teacher training colleges, medical colleges and various NGO’s in India on consultative basis in the area of capacity building, setting services and educating relevant staff and family members through regular visits and through internet via Skype. He has a particular interest in use of technology for clients with communication difficulties across various age ranges and setting up services proving services across life span.I collaboratively work with some centres such as CRIA, in Delhi & Uttarakhand (Board member).

Mr. Milind Sonawane is keen to collaborate with likeminded individuals, organisations and managements working in the field of disability to further strengthen networks in this area and share his experiences and expertise with all.

The Serrendip is honored to be associated with Mr. Sonawane and would seek his guidance.

Dr. Ruchi Gupta- Psychiatrist

Dr. Ruchi Gupta

Dr. Ruchi Gupta is a competent professional with 14 years of expertise in providing quality Mental Health.​ ​She has experience of managing clinical research and study. She expertise in providing advisory to schools, colleges and corporate for identifying psychological problems and dealing with it.

Her core competencies lie in dealing with Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Addiction Psychiatry and Adult / Geriatric Psychiatry​. ​

She deals with diagnosing and formulating long term / short term treatment plans, to enhance stability and well being of persons with Mental retardation​. ​ Autism and Developmental delays, ​I​identifying SLD (Dyslexia), ADHD and remedial training​ ​and Parental Counselling, Aptitude Assessment and IQ assessment.

The Serrendip is honored to be associated with her and would seek her guidance. ​

Ms. Divya Singh- Psychologist & Cognitive Health Consultant

Divya Singh

Ms. Divya Singh joins the Technical Advisory Board in the capacity of a Psychologist and Diagnostician. She undertakes the responsibility for all the necessary psychometric assessment and certification requirements as per the RCI regulation.

At present she is an Independent Consultant for Psychological & Cognitive Health Services at Powai & Bandra, Mumbai.

​She is a ​certified & ​l​icensed MBTI Assessor and trainer​(​2016​)​from CPP, Psychometrics, Toronto, ON, Canada​, She is certified in Advanced Skills in Cognitive Behavior Therapy ( 2013 ) from University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. She is certified in Primary & Advanced Rational Emotive Behavioral therapy (2012) from Albert Ellis Institute, New York, NY, USA. She is trained & licensed in Bilingual and Culturally Competent Psychometric Assessment (2012) from Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, Boston, MA, USA. She is a post graduate diploma in Child Rights Law (2010) from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore, India. She is a Master in Science in Clinical Psychology ( 2005 ) from Christ College, Bangalore University, India

The Serrendip is proud to be associated with Ms. Divya Singh, would be seeking her guidance when needed.

Ms. Nandini Santhanam- Special Educator

Ms Nandini Santhanam

Ms. Nandini Santhanam, founder-director of The Lotus Foundation, Chennai, India believes in the children with autism to lead humanity into creating The New Earth. She, through her silent work with the children has come to hold the space for the evolution that is in process. She believes that autism is highest form of individualisation and that is the doorway to finding coherence in community whose members are whole and complete in themselves. And so the process continues!”

Ms. Nandini Santhanam will be an asset to our philosophy- Shaping Thoughts; Shifting Paradigms, The Serrendip is enriched to be associated with her.

Mrs. Shailja Sharma - Lawyer

Shailja Sharma

Mrs Shailja Sharma is an LLB, LLM specializing in contract and company laws. She is a Gold medalist in Advanced Diploma in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations and also holds a Certification for Intellectual Property Rights IPR laws. She is a registered lawyer in Bar Council of India since 2001. She has been proactively involved in researching for special education, assistive technology and a certification in Learning Disabilities course by RCI Rehabilitation Council of India.

Her seminars on, Children with Special Needs, Laws on People with Disabilities, Right to Education, have been thoroughly appreciated by various organizations. a

Mrs Shailja Sharma has been a guest speaker at All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), National Trust’s SNAC, Kendriya Vidyalaya’s course for Inclusive Education

The Serrendip is honored to be associated with Mrs. Shailja Sharma and would seek her guidance.

Ms. Giselle Lobo - Pedagogy Consultant and Special Educator

giselle

Ms. Giselle Lobo is a special educator who is passionately committed to the philosophy of inclusive education. Over the past 30 years she has conducted several parent and teacher education programs which attempted to raise awareness about inclusive education.

She currently works at “Sethu” an NGO in Goa as the head of the Inclusive Education Projects

The Serrendip is honored to be associated with Ms.Giselle Lobo and would seek her help and guidance.

Ms. Prathibha Doraiswamy- Educational Technology Consultant

Prathibha Doraiswamy

Prathibha is a Computer Science engineer & Management professional with 14 years of industry experience across USA & India. She has a Bachelors and Masters degree in Computer Science and has completed an Executive Management program in IIMBangalore. During the course of her career Prathibha worked with several leading companies like Motorola, Safeway and Sapient in driving complex projects and global technology roll outs.

Prathibha is very passionate about education & children and quit her corporate career to pursue my interest in ‘education technology‘ and has founded ‘Cuedin’ – a early intervention tool for special needs children. She strongly believes that most students with disabilities can and do benefit from technology. In fact, in many developed countries technology has been proven to be a great equalizer in a classroom with diverse learners. However, edTech resources while very beneficial for special needs children are also scarce in the developing countries (unlike in the west). Currently Cuedin has been used by more than 1500 people across 30 countries with the majority users in India, USA and Australia.

The Serrendip is proud to be associated with Ms. Prathibha Doraiswamy.

 

Ms. Simmi Santha- Consultant Behaviour Analyst

Simmi Velpula

Ms. Simmi Santha is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst  (BCBA) from Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB), USA. Presently, she is in working in Ontario, Canada as the Founder & Clinical Supervisor of Skill Enablers Inc.

Ms. Simmi Santha has more than 22 years of hands-on experience working with clients of all age groups with developmental disorders, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). She has provided effective Applied Behavior Analysis services for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder at all performance levels in child’s natural environment & treatment centers.

She is the Founder of ‘Reeta Peshawaria Centre for Autism and ABA services’ in Mallappally, Kerala, India. She has received the prestigious Reeta Peshawaria-Menon Fellowship Award for the year 2014 to advance work in the field of Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Her main goal is to effectively utilize her knowledge and extensive experience in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) with clients with special needs, with professionals and organizations in-order to bring about significant changes in the quality of living of individuals and families with special needs.

The Serrendip is proud to be associated with Ms. Simmi Santha.