Anjan Satish, a city-based artist with cerebral palsy, has found a way to keep children with disorders such as cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome and autism, engaged during the lockdown period. His art classes over WhatsApp are now a hit among his students.
Anjan shares step-by-step drawing and painting tutorials and sets two or three tasks daily for around 40 members of his WhatsApp classroom. His students, with the help of their parents, complete their tasks for the day and submit it to him a few hours later, eagerly anticipating a star or two and appreciation.
Anjan, a self-taught cartoonist, is an art teacher at Adarsh Charitable Trust, an NGO working with children with special needs. Classes at the NGO had come to an end a few weeks ago. Anjan’s WhatsApp classes, which began on day one of the lockdown, were launched to keep children with disorders occupied even while they remained at home, said Satish Kumar, Anjan’s father. “Since they must remain at home, children who require therapy might not be able to get it. This interaction could help both the kids and their parents,” he said.
With the WhatsApp group receiving attention even from students outside the NGO, Anjan was considering taking his classes over video conference, said Mr. Kumar.
