How it began at Adarsh Charitable Trust

Jointly founded by K. P. Padmakumar and Neelakantan, Adarsh Charitable Trust was established as a day care center with only seven children, in June 1998. Taking into account the availability of financial and technical resources, they decided to start off with a school cum rehabilitation institute only for children with Cerebral Palsy. Later, in July 2003, with more experience and better availability of resources, a separate section for children with Autism was started. In 2008, sections for Down’s syndrome and Learning Disorders were also added. At present, there are around 120 children with Cerebral Palsy, over 50 children with Autism, 20 children with Down’s syndrome and over 30 children with Learning Disorders undergoing training.

The organisation was set up when the duo realised that disability amongst children was widely prevalent however there were only a few organisations around to care for and support them. Further, that rehabilitation is very much possible; once a disability has been specifically identified, appropriate therapy and training can help rehabilitate the disabled. They used this realisation to change the situation for the disabled of Kerala, where approximately 50,000 children under six are affected by Cerebral Palsy, Autism and Down’s syndrome.
Along the way, due to differences of opinion, the partners split. Currently, K. P. Padmakumar is Chairman. He has over 25 years of experience in the banking field and was also Chairman of Federal Bank Ltd .

The organisation has two centres – the main building in Kureekkad which focuses on children with Autism, Cerebal Palsy and Down’s syndrome; and another centre at Vyttila, in the city, which focuses on learning disorders. The centre admits normal school going children who struggle to cope with the rigours of the current mainstream school curriculum.

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Aadeep