INTERNSHIP REPORT

An internship report submitted for the partial fulfillment of requirement forthe

award degree
of ofmaster ofarts in psychology (lst year for semestersecond)

Year -2023-24

Submitted by
SayaliSandip Gurav

Under guidance of
Ms Sakshi Gawade

ONIV

HIVA

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
SHIVAJIUNIVERSITY ,KOLHAPUR
 Shivaji University, Kolhapur

Department of Psychology

CERTIFICATE

It is to certify that GURAV SAYALI SANDIP

PRN-2023001021, a Post-Graduate Student in Department of
Psychology for the year 2023-2024 has successfully

completed an On-Job Training program at

CHWTANA VIKAS MANDIR_ and has presented a report of

the same.

Exam Seat No: 6 926

Date: 13/04/2024

Subject Teacher Guidance Teacher Head of Department

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The intemship opportunity Ihad with special school with children with
disabilities was a great chance for learning and professional development.
Therefore consider nmyselfas a very lucky individual as I got an opportunity to
,I

be a part of it. Iam also grateful for having a chance to meet so many wonderful
people and professionals who me through my internship period.
led

First of all, I'm using this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude and special
thanks to

Mrs.Ajaya patil principal of Special School for Children with Disabilities and
mental retardation,
for allowing me to work as an intern in special school. And in

spite ofbeing extraordinarilybusy with her duty, she took time out to hear, guide
and keep meon correctpath.
I would like to express my gratitude to Shivaji University of Kolhapur for
including internship
program as an 2nd semester course which has provided an opportunity to gain
practical
working experience in the organization.
And I would like to convey my sincere gratitude to my supervisors my all

,
Professors Department of Psychology for their proper guidance throughout my
internship. I consider this opportunity as a big milestone in my career
development. I will strive to use gained skills and knowledge in the best way
possible and I will continue to work on improvement in order attain desired career

ON JOB TRAINING REPORT

Student Name - Sayali Sandip Gurav

College- Department of Psychology, ShivajiUniversity Kolhapur
Class - MA part 1. Semester - second

Subject - On Job Training Seat no - 06926

Year -2023-24

Internship site /institution - Chetna vikas mandir ,Kolhapur (School for special
childrens )
 INTRODUCTION:

Internship begin in the mid of February .Overallexperience of internship

1s great as the i expected to learn about the challenges of students with mental
retardation and other disabilities, people involved in their care
role of
psychologist and counsellors, how the mental health professionalscan work with

them,objectives of OJTwere fulfilled . My personal learning outcomes are great

. Inthe beginning of internshipthere was a lot of confusion in my mind ,I haven't
an idea about even the basics about mental retardation and multiple disabilities

according to psychological perspective.So it's a bit challenging for me to work

at .I have been alloted
the institution at specialchildren's school at Chetna Vikas
Mandir ,Kolhapur. With me have I my three classmates as well Kalayani Patil ,

Vishal Ghol, Vikas Kamble .I have the opportunity to observe the students in

their daily activities and interact with them under the guidance of experienced
professionals. This can include participating in classroom activities, therapy
sessions, and recreationalactivities. Each child has unique needs and abilities.

Our internship involves learning about these individual diferences and how they
impact the child's learning,behaviour, and overall well-being. I am likely to be
involved in implementing interventionsto support the students'development and
learning goals. This included behaviour management strategies, sensory
integrationtechniques, and communication support. Throughout our internship,I
have opportunities for reflection and supervision with our supervisor or mentor.
This allowed us to process our experiences,receive feedback, and deepen your
understanding of working with this population. My internship will contribute to

our professional development as a psychologist ,counsellor as well as other

mental health professionals. I have gained practical skills, knowledge, and
insights that will be valuable to me to pursue a career in psychology, particularly

in the field of special education or developmental psychology. Overall, an

internship ata schoolforchildren with mental retardationand multiple disabilities

is a challenging but rewarding experience that allows me to make a meaningful

difference in the lives of these students while also furthering my own education
and career goals in psychology.
During my internship, I have faced various obstacles. But with the help of
teachers of Special School and mento, I have overcome those problems
successfully. Even though it was not for too long, it still has profound results in

some aspects of my life. Through the internship,

learned to indentify my weakness and also my strength.
 Learning objectives

• ToGain knowledge about the special education

As, I decided to do my internshipat specialschool the first and foremost thing to
do was to have an idea about a specialeducation. Special education is also
referredto as special Ed. This entail's teaching challenged students who have
special needs in a way which address is all their needs individually.It involves
teaching procedure that are individuallyplanned and systematically monitored.
These interventionsare designed in a way that they help individuals who have
special needs to achieve personal self-sufficiencyand success in school
activities as well ascommunity activities which would not be if the students were
only able to access learningin typical ways.

•Imparting importance of education to the specialchildren

Educating special challenged students is very challenging. Students who have
intellectual disabilities, autism and severe or multiple disabilities can have many
bumps.The impact of having a disability as a student can affect not only the
students and parents but the educators as well. So, my ultimate goal of doing this

internship was to teach the importance of education to the special students and let

them know the difference of being educated and illiterate. To make them
understand that with the help of education they can achieve everything which
normal person can.

• Tolearn about the disabilities

In 2016right of person with disabilities listed 21 types of disabilities. In special
school, where I did my internship looks after only 4 types of disabilities(Cerebral
palsy, intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorder and down syndrome).

• To relate theory through practical learning

To apply all theknowledge that my educational environment on
I learnt during
practical during my internship.It helped me to demonstrate my ability to use
evidence to increase my understanding of key concepts, justifymy decision
making and inform future-practice.

• Toteach special student the necessary skilllike fine motor skill and gross motor
skills for their selfhelp an independent living.
• To learn sign language -
Many of the students had a speech problem due to their disability, so to interact

or to

communicate with them sign language was important for me to learn. Though 1

was not
able to learn the entire sign language Ilearned the basic about the sign language
just like

greeting in good morning, saying thank you, sorry and the alphabets.

• To build my self confidence, improve my communication skills and to be

patience. -

Iused to be very stage fright and used to be nervous while communicating with
other peoples. Iused to be my ideas to other people thinking
afraid to share I

might be wrong. But this internship helped me to build my self-confidence and

my communication skill and be patient. Now, I can freelyshare my ideas and give
Feedback without any hesitation.

• To Increase awareness about the importance of specialschool in Society -

Special school and students was completely new to me, Ihad heard about the
special
school but never visited to such kind of schools.Before my internship if someone
had
asked me aboutthe special school, I guess I would had only said that the school
looks

after the special students. And there are many more people like me who don't
have
proper idea aboutthe specialschool. But now after doing my internshipI'm sure
that if

anyone seeks help tome about thespecial school, I willbe able to explain in

details about the importance and the facilities of specialschool.

• To get an experience of working with the trained teacher.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTITUTE

Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (PWIDD)

one of themost
are probably neglected sections of our society.Perhaps no other

group of suffering human beings has existed for so long a time outside

mainstream society.Fortunately,this situationis gradually changing in a positive

of NGOs.This is reflected in the appropriate responses
direction due to the efforts
of the Central and State governments,enlightened perspectives ofthe parents and
a reasonable awareness in the society.

Yet, a lot of ground remains to be covered. There is a great need to bring about a
basic change in our perception and orientation of this problem of Intellectual
Disability. We have taken on a small initiative towards the enormous need.

About disability.

The intellectually disabled constitute around 2% of our population. Intellectual

disability is not an illness or disease.It is a kind of disability just like deafness or
blindness. It's a sort ofdisability which leads to limitedmental as well asphysical
activities.

These children remain a life-long responsibility for the parents. The only way to
tackle this problem is to make these children self-reliant, confident, independent

andself-sufficient through a special education policy.

This is the direction in which Chetana Apangmati Vikas Sanstha has been
working over the years in Kolhapur,a district place in Maharashtra (India).About
Chetana Apangmati Vikas Sanstha

Chetana was founded in 1986 and started in a garage with just 20 children. Today
there are over 200students. Chetana runs the following programmes :

Chetana Vikas Mandir

A special school for intellectually disabled children in the age group of 5 to 18

years.
Chetana Udyog Kendra
A vocational training centre cum sheltered work-shop for the intellectually

disabled children above 18 years.

Chetana Education & Research Academy

A teacher training centre, recognized by Rehabilitation Council of India, New
Delhi.

Chetana Apangmati Vikas Sastha,Kolhapur

Chetana Apangmati Vikas Sanstha, Kolhapur

Chetarna Apangrnati Vikas Sanstha kolhapár.

Vision & Mission

Vision

Every Person with Intellectual and Developmental Disability is a respectable

member ofour societywhere his rights are protected,receivesequal opportunities

and gets full participation in social activities to the maximum extent possible.

Mission
Through ceaseless endeavours of devoted social workers and constant efforts of

trained professionals, empowering the Persons with Intellectual

Developmental Disabilities to access various aspects of life necessary to become

independent using personal, social, academic and vocational skills along with

sports and cultural programs.

Some salient features

The institute has been recognized by the Department of Social Welfare of Govt.
of Maharashtra.

Allstudents are provided education and vocational training free of cost.

There is a full- fledged medical panel of experts from various fields of medicine,
who offer their servicesfree of cost.
Special curriculum forthe school and the rehabilitation centre.

Special wing for home science training.

Chetana Bazaar.
Qualified and trained staff.

Stipend is paid to the children working at the vocational training centre.

Special emphasis on personality development through therapies like music,

dance, drama and sports.
Concentrated and intensive efforts to enrich the world of experience of the
Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
Activities

The Students Welfare fund

All our teaching and non-teaching employees as well some of our well-wishers
contribute some amountto a fund specially created for providing financial
assistance to poor and needy students to enable them to meet the expenses of
uniforms, medical treatment, rickshaw fare etc.

Parents and Teachers Association

Chetana has also founded an association called 'SAAD' for the teachers and

guardians which holds regular meetings. Numerous workshops, seminars and

lectures have also been organized for the guardians over the years.

Trips and Excursions

Socialization forms an extremely important element in the training programme
for the Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. With this in

view, we regularly organize small trips to markets, gardens, spinning & sugar
mills,banks, dairies and newspaper printing press etc. We have organized several
trips to places such as Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Mysore, Bangalore and
Rajasthan. One most memorable trip was to New Delhi, where 25 students
witnessed the Republic Day parade.

SportsMeets
Sports are an essential component of any training programme as they have great
potential for emotional development of the children. Chetana has always
considered sports as an important activity. We have organized sports meets for
the special schools from western Maharashtra working for Persons with
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities on eight occasions so far. The
teachers in these schools were invited for a Special Olympics Preparatory
Workshop. Our Students have been participatingin the Special Olympics for the
past 20 years and havewon several prizes at the State and National level.

It was a glorious moment for the school when our student, Amit Sutar,

participated in the Indian football team at the 1999 Special Olympics at South
Carolina, USA. He much enriched by his new experience. We have
returned
enlisted him now as a member of the staff. We are proud to mention that our
sports teacher, Mr. Sudhir More was selected to coach the Indian football team
 which participated in the InternationalSpecial Olympics meet, held at Ireland in
2003, our student Kedar Desai was selected for power lifting game who
participated in international Special Olympics held in Athens, Greece, in June
2011and student Aashish Savekarwas selectedfor floorhockey who participated
inworld winter games held in South Koria in January 2013.And in December
2013 two of our students Omkar Rane and prajakta Patil participated in Asia
Pacific world games held in Australia.
Have a look at various activities conducted at Chetana Apangmati Vikas Sanstha

Teaching them various activities related to daily life is a prime motto of Chetana.
This furthermay lead them to be selfreliant.

Chetana Udyog Kendra

The final stage of the training programme for disabled persons is rehabilitation.

Given the importance, we have started a sheltered workshop for our students.
Training is offered in the production of all types of office files including box and
lace files, portfolios,registers etc. Similarly, in the carpentry and wood craft,

liquid soap &phenol making, screen printing, small diwali wax-lamps, Batik
paper mache' products
printing, etc. Last five years we are making Ganesh idols
from paper mache', and this echo friendly activity is receiving huge response
from the society.

Studentsworking in this vocationaltraining centreearna stipend from Rs. 150to

Rs. 1000 per month. Some students look after marketing of these products and
earn a commission on their orders. It is simply exhilarating to watch their faces

sparkling with pride and joy when they start earning on their own.

Over the years a number of our students have been gainfully employed. They are
thus respectable members of society and making their parents proud.
Achievements

Savali Sanman Puraskar: 2001

(From Maisaheb Bawadekar Sanstha)
Jeevan Gouav Puraskar : 2001
(From Aavishkar Foundation,Kolhapur)
Apang mitra Puraskar
(From Helpers
:
2009
Of The Handicapped)
Rashtrabhushan Puraskar :2009
(From Human Rights Protection Forum)
NationalAward as Best NGO: 2009-10
(From The National Trust, New Delhi)
Vasundhara Gourav :2012

(In Kirloskar Vasundhara Film Festival-12)

Mr. Abhiram Bhadkamkar, a well-known Marathi dramatist and script writer

recently produced and also directed a Marathi feature film “Aamhi Asu Ladake".
This film is based on the problems faced by normal and intellectually disabled
children and the responses of their parents. The entire shooting of the film was
done in Chetana and our students played different roles. Our students were
awarded the Zee Cine Award for the best child artistes.

Glimpses of some of the trophies

which Chetana has received.

ATIONA

TR
futureplans

Project Chetana

The education of the Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities is

often called Special education because their needs are really special. We have
now undertaken Project Chetana for the education and rehabilitation of these
children in and around Kolhapur. This project willbe spread over 5 acres of land.

The following facilities have been visualized in this project:

A school building to cater to the needs of around 200 students
A Vocational Training Centre to train around 200 students
Facilities will be made available in this centre for training in the following trades
:

1. File making, 2. Book and notebook binding, 3.Making envelopes, paper bags,
sweetmeat boxes, 4. Making chalks, wax candles and incense sticks, 5.

Embroidery, knitting & stitching, 6. Furniture making, 7. Laundry jobs, 8.

Bakery, 9.Welding, 10. Catering, 11. Screen printing and lamination, 12. Batik
printing, Block printing bandhani, dyeing, ceramics 13. Diwali wax lamps,

rakhis, utane and greetingcards 14.Production of cloth on handloom, 15. Making

liquid soap, phenol, detergents & Surgical Bandages, 16.Chetana Bazaar.

The centre willalso be equipped with the following:

Child Guidance Clinic.

Early intervention Centre

Speech Therapy Centre.

Physio-therapy Centre.
Diagnostic & Research Centre.
Music Room and Library.
Cultural hall.

Sports Complex with a Swimming pool.

Independent Hostels for boys and girls

Special School for slow learners.

Project Chelvi

"What willhappen to them after me?"- This is a question which often worries

parents of the intellectually disabled children. We are trying to procure 15 to 20

acres of land near Kolhapur so as to make a life- long provision for these children.
The intellectually disabled persons can stay here permanently, work in the felds
and thus earn a livelihood.Agriculture demands a tremendous variety of skills.
This will provide employment from the least to the severely retarded person.
Various other activities such as tree farming, hatchery, sericulture, goat farming
etc could also come up, in due course of time. Around 100 persons can be
rehabilitatedthrough this centre.Parents of these children will also be permited
to stay in this centre in emergencies. There willalso be a old age home for the old
intellectually disabled persons in this centre and permanent medical facility will
be available here.

Lastly we can only say

Let us make the persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Self reliant and self supporting
Let us help them win their rights

Let us help them win Self Respect and Human Dignity

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITY

Mainly we have a responsibility,especiallyin a School context where they

have to care for the children and provide extra help where ever they can and to

help push company values forward and help organizations reach its goals
very lst day of our internship we explored the organization area , basic
information about the organisation about how organisation has been started what
are the goals and aims ,as it is a school of special childrens our first task was to
find out what kind ofdisabilities those childrens are with and mentally retardation
.How the classes are segregated, what's the difference between normal and this
schools ,their curriculum .First few days we have gained information about
organization and observed the characteristics of mental retardationwith multiple
disabilities students . Trying to build up healthy rappo and friendly relationship
between us and those teachers, students. It's because we
very challenging for us

don't have prior experience and knowledge about mental retardationand multiple

disabilities why first few days we engaged in just observing students traits
that's

and behaviour ,we have choose particular classes and cases for eg .some of us
choose educable group a child having autism.This way we have taken duties to
ourselves has well ,helped their teachers for taking activities .Simultaneously
we tried to search new activities and teaching methods ,training programs for
parents and teachers as well .As we have allotted 60hrs internship ,during
some days we choose one student and studied them took case history ,done with
last

home visits On the last few days our main goal is to find out how can
psychologists or corresponding branches works with this types of organization ,
what are the needs and why mental health related profiles are needed for this
organisation. As well we have tried to took below given activities

• Play way method

The play way method is a unique method of learning and can be customize as
per the child interest and requirement. It encourages the kids creative skills and
self expressions. Play way method improves the cognitive physical, social and
emotional well being of children.

• Fine motor skills:

Fine motor skills r activities in which we use the small muscles in our hand and
wrist to make precise moment for example dying shoe laces, opening of box,
tracing,opening and closing of bagpipes et.
• Gross motor skills:

Gross motor skills are the abilities usually acquired during childhood as part of

the children motor learning. The gross motor skill development involves the large
muscles in the arms and legs for example throwing a ball climbing stairs jumping

sitting etc. These skills are important for special children for their self help and
independent living.

•Use of pictures while teaching(TLM):

connection
Teaching with objects and photographs creates a direct, sensory
between learners and their subjects that result in new levels of interest and
levels of visual
attention. Teaching with objects also creates students with higher

literacy.

• Scribbling:
Scribbling helps kids build eye and hand coordination needed for later writing

skills. Seribbling also helps kids develop fine motor skills needed for
writing, drawingand other related skills.

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 Learning accomplishment

•Communication and interpersonal

Good communication skills are essential to succeed plane both professional and
personal life. It is one of the top skills that potential recruiters search for and
something that can be improved through internship during my internship. Ihad
to communicate with teachers and students to build a better connection

sometimes, I had to communicate with teachers through emails to circulate my

ideas and this thing help me in improving mycommunication skills.

• Teamwork and collaboration

Internship help me to improve my teamwork skills during my internship my

classmates and we worked as a team and often used to discuss how the students
should be taught using the innovative ideas during the internship,I got a chance
to work and collaborate with experience teacher in teams where each person's
contribution matters equally. It taught me to work with other people with diverse
idea, meet deadlines, and understand my strengthsand weakness.

• Time management and multitasking:

effective time management is essential to find a balance between daily tasks in

the school and personal life. Good time management allows us to achieve our
desired goal with less effort within the given time. Because of my internship I
learned effective time management strategies. During my internship I had to

manage my college life and work life, Ihad to prepare creative activities ideas for

students and beside also prepare my PPT for presentation at college. It was
quite difficult for me at the beginning born as I move on, I learnt to consistent

with my work and was able to manage a number of tasks without missing a
deadline.

• Accountability:
This is an inevitable skill we need to have at the workplace. Accountability refers

to taking responsibilityfor the work, decisions, performance. Internship taught

me to be accountable for my own work which provide me hand on experience to
the day to day work in the workplace.
• Critical thinking:
This skill is needed in all aspects of a business as well as all department of
organization. Hence, to succeed in career we need to learn and improve our
critical thinking skills and this internship help me with that thìng policee stop
during my internship 1 face a new challenges everyday and with allthose
challenges I learned a new way of handling an issue.This exercise improve my
eritical thinking skill, where I leam to not take something for its face value but
truly understand why it may be beneficial to whom and under what
circumstances.

• Patience:

What Ilearmed most during my internship is how to be patience with myself as I

approach deadlines and work steadilytowards getting everything done. Paticnce

ith colleagues, while dealing with request and projects. Patience with the

students speciallywhile interacting with them and giving them activities.

Challanges and areas for improvement i

The challenges that Ifaced during internship was, I was on professional

and was working with the trained teachers. Ifelt like Iwas lagging behind and
was afraid of making mistake. I realize the difference between university life and
work life. The biggest threat for me was having a competitive-mate. were 4 We
of us working in the same field so; the competition was tough among us. Ons
thing Ileamt while doing this internship is not take things easy or there will be
lotsof problems. I challenge myself to be an honest worker and focus on to
takecare of students, according to their disability. people are not ready tor
accepting the role of psychologists and mental health professionals, it's my
opinion that it's more challenging for us as psychology aspirantsor being mental
health professionals
Reflection

Iworked asan internat Special School with Children with Disabilities and mental
.
retardation Being an was a unique experiencewhere I was empowered,
intern

inspired and learn something new every day. From walking in on my first day
until leaving 10th day later I gained not much knowledge and experience but I
didn't know I would have before I started. The first few weeks ofmy intern were
quite difficult for me mainly because I was not aware about the different
disabilities. Plus the environment was completely new to me. There were off
course the train teacher who were guiding me, but most of the time I had to figure
out everything on my own. From the beginning I was met with respect and
understanding I was treated asan employee,and not just as an intern. Ifthere was

something I didn't know, there was always someone to help. Halfway of my

internship improved a lot compared to my first few days searching most of the
things on my own helped me a lot. Alsoobserving and listening a lot ofdiscussion
that were held in the office had also helped me a lot. But the most effective way
for me was to interact with the studentsteaching and communicating with them

and seeing them approach things helped me understand the process. The areas
that I feel the other teachers help me the most with are to take care of the

children's, to take the classes all alone, to give activities to students and
understand the behavior of students.

My internshiphas taught me a lot about my skills set and given me confidence in

my own abilities. It has helped guide my career aspirations and will definitely
belp me in my future career choice. The knowledge
me to face
I gained will help
the real world after post-graduation. My
experience has bought me closer to my
Goals and I'mexcited for
what the future has to bring.
 CONCLUSION

On the whole this internship

was a useful experience. I have gained new
knowledge, sklls and met many new peoples. I achieved severalof my
learning
goals. Ilearned
about the different
types of disabilities. This internship was not
one sided but it was a way of sharing knowledge, ideas and opinions. This
internship helped me to find out my strength and weakness. It helped me to define
what skills and knowledge Ihave to improve in the coming time.
The main objective of the specialteaching
training is to identify, observe and
practice teaching to the special children and role of psychologist ,counselor
observe their characteristics. also work
I learned to in an organization, the
importance of being punctual and the importance of team spirit. This internship
was an opportunity to test drive a career without making any serIOus
commitments. .After doing my internship I'm quite sure about which careerpath
is right for me because after working in an environment where mistakes are
accepted and where Ihad extra support.I gained valuable experience. Taking
advantage of internship opportunities during mny
2nd semester was a great way to
get a head-start my job search and prepare for a successfulcareer. At last, this
on
internship has given me new insight and motivationto pursue of careers in mental
health professionals.