Early intervention services to children with Mental Retardation Center Foundation Rehabilitation of children with developmental delays/ mental retardation :: Profile of the Faculty at 2nd International Conference on Mental Retardation

2nd Intl. Conference on MR

Rangasamy Ramasamy

Rangasamy Ramasamy, Professor of Exceptional Student Education, received his PhD from the University of Arizona. His publications and research interests focus on transition from school to work, Native American education, inclusive education, and applied behavior analysis for students with disabilities. Dr. Ramasamy's publication, "Transition from school to adult life: Critical issues for Native American youth" appears in Career Development for Exceptional Individuals.

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Dr. Jayanthi Narayan

Dr. Jayanthi Narayan, Ph.D, Consultant in Special Education (learning and intellectual disabilities), Former Dy.Director, National Institute for the mentally Handicapped (NIMH), Secunderabad, India.

Graduated with M.S. in Special education (Learning disabilities and mental retardation) from State University of NewYork, M.A. in Distance Education and Ph.D. from India and Post Doc with Fulbright senior research Fellowship from Boston College, Massachusetts. Worked as head of the department of Special education at NIMH for 19 years and Deputy Director of the Institute for 4 years. While at NIMH, developed curriculum and instructional strategies for children with mental retardation, validated and brought out publications which are in use in the country. Carried out 18 research projects, in which 10 as chief investigator, published 22 manuals, 9 chapters in books, 24 journal articles out of which 9 in international journals, 4 video films and 10 software for use by children with mental retardation. Was a member of a number of subcommittees of Rehabilitation Council of India which gave an opportunity to contribute to policy decisions at National level and standardization of curricula for various courses in the country. Wrote and edited course material for distance mode courses in special education and community based rehabilitation (CBR). Currently working as special education consultant within India and neighbouring countries where the tasks include conduct of staff development programs and help in organizing special education and CBR programs.

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Sudha Kaul

Sudha Kaul, Founder, Trustee and Vice Chairperson of Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy (IICP), Kolkata (formerly Spastics Society of Eastern India). In 1974 there were no schools for children with cerebral palsy and special needs in Eastern India. The first school was set up in Kolkata by Sudha Kaul and a group of young pioneers who had an intrinsic belief in their own children's abilities to learn.

The Society was founded in April 1974 to provide services to children with cerebral palsy. This organisation has grown from a small school to a major training institute in India and is a catalyst agency, having initiated services for cerebral palsy in twenty major cities in India and in each of the districts of West Bengal. IICP won the National Award from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India for the Best Disability NGO in 2004. The Institute is now affiliated with Jadavpur University, Kolkata.

Dr. Kaul has a PhD in Augmentative and Alternative Communication from Manchester Metropolitan University. She has authored several books on AAC and presented papers at several national and international conferences. She is a member of several Government of India- Technical Advisory Councils.

She is currently the Vice-Chair of the Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy and its Executive Director. Since January 2007 she has been appointment President of the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC), an international Society for persons with complex communication needs. ISAAC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

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Dr. Vibha Krishnamurthy

Dr. Vibha Krishnamurthy, (Developmental Pediatrician) graduated from Lady Harding Medical College, New Delhi with an MBBS. She went on to acquire an MD from Safdarjuang Hospital, New Delhi as well as from Massachusetts General Hospital, USA and completed her fellowship in Developmental Disabilities from the Children's Hospital, Boston.

Dr. Krishnamurthy has been practicing as a Developmental Pediatrician in India since 1999. She is the Director of Ummeed Child Development Center, a non-profit organization she set up in November 2001. Dr. Krishnamurthy is a consultant to Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai as well as several other non-profit organizations. She also serves on the advisory board for several organizations some of which include the Action for Autism, Delhi, Forum for Autism Awareness, Mumbai, Samarpan Center for Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Mumbai, Ashiana Autism Trust, Mumbai, Karuna Vihar, Dehradun and Sir Shapurji Billimoria Foundation, Mumbai. In addition to this she is closely associated with organizations such as Akanksha, EAR, NAAD (an NGO for early intervention for children with hearing impairment), SOPAN (Society of Parents of Children with Autistic Disorder) and the American Academy of Pediatrics and also serves as a resource person for the Expert Committee on Autism for RCI (Rehabilitation Council of India) and the National Trust.

Dr. Krishnamurthy has also been actively involved in various awareness-building programs for which she has given several talks related to 'Autism' and 'Learning Disabilities', including talks on the Radio from time to time. In addition to this she has also conducted numerous workshops for parents, teachers, children as well as other professionals.

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Dr. K. VijayRaghavan

Dr. K. VijayRaghavan, is a developmental biologist working at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore. His research interests focus on the development of the nervous system and muscles, specifically how the capacity for locomotion is built.

Positions and Employment

1970-75 B.Tech student at the Chemical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
1975-77 M.Tech student at the BioMedical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
1978-83 Ph.D. (Molecular Biology) at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
1984-85 Research Fellow at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
1986-88 Senior Research Fellow at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
1988 - Joined National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore
Present - Senior Professor and Director, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore

Establishment of the National Centre of Biological Sciences
With Obaid Siddiqi and colleagues, established the National Centre for Biological Sciences of the Tata Institute. This has developed into the leading laboratory for research in biology in India. http://www.ncbs.res.in

Honours

Fellow, Indian Academy of Science.
Fellow, Indian National Science Academy
Awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award, 1998.
Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT/K)
Proctor and Gamble post-doctoral fellowship, Caltech
Member editorial board, BioMedCentral Developmental Biology
Editor in Chief, Journal of Genetics
J.C. Bose fellow, Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India

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