VELVI ART FOR AUTISM FESTIVAL ,21-23 July 2017

About the FESTIVAL:

The Art for Autism festival is the Brain child of Dr Parasuram Ramamoorthi, Chairman of the Velvi trust
Madurai . He started this concept in 2006 to bring together Nationally and Internationally renowned
practitioners in the fields of Drama, Music, Art and Movement [Creative dance] at one place for 3 days and
offering these tools to help children and persons on the Autism spectrum improve their skills in the areas
of Communication and Social skills as well as for some Discover a passion or a talent which could then
become their vocation for life.
In the three-day program each participant will get to attend 2-3 sessions with each facilitator. Parents and
Professionals will get to attend one concept workshop by each Facilitator and get to observe a few
sessions whenever they are not in the concept sessions. The program is residential to ensure the
schedule is adhered to on time as you can see it is packed and also to facilitate interaction and
socialization among participants during the sessions and also informally

Some links to media coverage of past festivals

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/reaching-out-to-the-autistic-through-
art/article5589622.ece

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/art-for-autism/article6840306.ece

Facilitators this Year:

ART
Ms. Shaloo Sharma, Head Pallavanjali. Specialises in ART for Autism

COMEDY
Mr. Andrew Nelson, M.Ed., ATC Autism/Theatre Consultant. USA

CREATIVE MOVEMENT
Ms.Tripura Kashyap is a Creative Movement Therapist and Co-founder at Creative Movement Therapy
Association of India-CMTAI based at Bangalore .

DRAMA
Dr Parasuram Ramamoorthi of Velvi is a world leader in Applied DRAMA for AUTISM
Ms. Sowmya Ram is a mainstream Theater Actor who is trained in DRAMA for AUTISM

MODELLING
Ms. Devika Mehta, is CoFounder of Synchrony, Mumbai/Chennai where they use Dance movement
psychotherapy and creative arts as a medium for healing.

MUSIC
HITHAM TRUST founded by Bombay Jayashri is dedicated to imparting music to children from the remote
town of Manjakudi in Kumbakonam to those in busy Chennai, including some touched by Autism. Along
with her team of compassionate and musically gifted teachers and volunteers she hopes to reach out to
especially talented youngsters and create a bridge to their musical journey.
About VELVI :

Velvi has been recognized internationally and recently the Story of Velvi has been voted by “Our Better
World” a forum based in Singapore as the “Best Story”

https://www.ourbetterworld.org/en/story/how-theatre-tool-can-unmask-autism

www.velvi.org

About ASHA :

Our partners for this event in Bangalore are Asha [Academy for Severe Handicaps and Autism], Bangalore
headed by Mrs. Jayashree Ramesh .

Mrs. Jayashree Ramesh has been a pioneer in this field of Autism since 1995 in India. She a respected and
well renowned professional and currently is also the member of the National Trust.
www.ashaforautism.com

Venue: Ecumenical Christian Centre, Whitefield

We found ECC the ideal venue for our festival it is located in Whitefield and has comfortable rooms,
sprawling lawns and walkways, enough halls for parallel sessions and a lovely canteen.
http://www.eccbangalore.org/. We expect about 100 participants including the students /children, their
families, professionals and facilitators.

Festival Coordinator

Akila Vaidyanathan is the Director AMAZE TRUST, COIMBATORE and has Coordinated several Past Festivals

Reach her @9791823043 or velvifestival2017@gmail.com