AGAM
A Centre for Children
WHAT IS AGAM?
Agam in Tamil means inside oneself; one’s body and mind. We at AGAM, focus on holding a safe and creative space for children to explore, evaluate and understand their own inner world in order to gain self-awareness, to produce meaningful constructions of the past and present, to accept themselves as a whole, to make the desired change and to truly enrich their lives.
WHAT DO WE OFFER?
APPLIED BEHAVIOUR
ANALYSIS THERAPY
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), is a set of principles that form the basis for many behavioral treatments which is based on the science of learning and behavior. It has been used by psychologist to teach communication, play, social, academic, self- care, community living skills and to reduce problem behaviors in learners with autism.
Through this therapy, it is aimed to identify and help change the harmful or unhealthy behaviors. Behavioral therapy is based on the idea that all behaviors are learned. This means that unhealthy or potentially self-destructive behaviors can be changed.
What are the benefits of ABA sessions?
It reduces undesirable behaviors.
It helps increases the motivation levels in the child.
It promotes learning.
It encourages generalization of skills.
It encourages social interaction and developing social skills.
It promotes functional communication.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
Occupational therapy is often characterized as exclusively addressing fine motor strength and coordination. However, there are many other areas of a child’s development that OT services can positively impact, including balance, core strength, body awareness, sensory regulation, executive functioning, attention, and greater independence with participation in school and self-care.
OT is built upon a foundational belief that children learn best through engaging in their natural “occupation” of play. At AGAM, our goal is that the “work” should be FUN! We use a variety of play-based materials such as yoga balls, animal walks, scooter boards, swings, obstacle courses, and resistive tunnels to address gross motor skills. We also incorporate board games, crafts, and other manipulatives to teach fine motor coordination through play.
SPEECH & LANGUAGE THERAPY
Speech-language therapy addresses challenges with language and communication. It can help people with autism improve their verbal, nonverbal, and social communication. The overall goal is to help the person communicate in more useful and functional ways.
A speech therapy program begins with an evaluation by a speech-language pathologist (SLP) to assess the person’s communication strengths and challenges. From this evaluation, the SLP creates individual goals for therapy.
Examples of the skills that speech therapy may work on include:
-
Strengthening the muscles in the mouth, jaw and neck
-
Making clearer speech sounds
-
Matching emotions with the correct facial expression
-
Understanding body language
-
Responding to questions
-
Matching a picture with its meaning
-
Using a speech app on an iPad to produce the correct word
-
Modulating tone of voice
PLAY THERAPY
Play therapy is an integral part of a child’s years during the growing years. It is the method by which the child communicates with and processes information from the world around him. However differently abled children have inappropriate play behavior and as their social interaction, imitation skills and communication are affected they face difficulty playing with other children.
For these children, there isn't only a need of appropriate toys but they also need to be taught “how to play”. Parents need to get down on the floor and actively teach their autistic child the "right" way to play with a toy. This concept is well adopted in a treatment technique called "Floortime". As its name suggests, Floortime encourages parents to engage children literally at their level - by getting on the floor to play.
What are the benefits of Play Therapy sessions?
-
Relieve stress
-
Improve brain function
-
Stimulate the mind and boost creativity
-
Learn social skills like sharing, turn-taking, etc.
-
Cultivate empathy and respect for thoughts and feelings of others.
ART THERAPY
Art therapy is based on the belief that the creative process involved in artistic self-expression helps children resolve their conflicts and problems, develop interpersonal skills, manage behavior, reduce stress, increase self-esteem and self-awareness, and achieve insight. As children with autism have difficulty processing sensory inputs and are often non-verbal, they respond well to visual, concrete, hands-on therapies.
Parents of children with autism have reported that art therapy helps to increase communication, ability to manage sensory issues, to recognize and respond to facial expressions. It also helps improves fine motor skills and social skills.
