ARULCHANDRU Special School for mentally retarded is run by ANISE society, a unit of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart which has its service units throughout India. The school is situated at Paramakudi in the civil district of Ramnathapuram, Tamilnadu, India. Paramakudi is around 90 K.ms East of Madurai Airport and 32 K.Ms West of Ramnad the district head quarters. The school was recently established with the view to provide specialized care and rehabilitation to mentally retarded children of Ramanathapuram district as there was no special school in this region.

 In the year 2005 a group of people formed a charitable trust in the name and style ‘Nessakarangal’ and started a special school for mentally retarded children. As they could not get a place to run the school they approached Brother Pancras, the then Director of Arulchandru Nilayam at Paramakudi, a human and faith resource development centre of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. Realizing their need we accommodated the school in the premises with 7 children. As we had regular programs and the number enrolment in the school increased we could not provide them the required space. In the same year the society undertook an extensive survey and it was found that more than 80 children were found in this area with various types of mental disabilities.

 The school was built  in the year 2010 at Arulchandru Nilayam premises. With the generous support of donors we were able to build a new school with four class rooms and two toilets. Consequently, the school has been recognized by the Government of Tamilnadu.

 The school was established here basically to care for and to provide education to the children with mental disabilities whose population is much higher compared to other regions. With the generous support of donors we built the school with necessary infrastructure. Consequently, the school has been recognized by the Government of Tamilnadu.

 The following types of mental disabilities are found in these areas:

•  Mentally Retarded
• Cerebral Palsy
• Down Syndrome
• Cretinism
• Micro Cephalic
• Hydro Cephalic

The schools admit all children irrespective caste and creed.  Being retarded these children are considered as curse of the family. So these children are kept in their homes without allowing them to attend schools and are given a menial treatment.

 At Arulchandru Special School, the children are grouped according to their aptitude and they are given training in the followings:

•  Self Help Training
• Activities of Daily Living Skills(ADL)
• Occupational Therapy
• Speech Therapy
• Physio Therapy
• Special alphabetical and numerical learning
• Vocational Training
• In door games

 At present school has an enrolment of 67 children with 9 teaching staff, 1 physio-therapist and 2 care providers. The children are brought by school van in the morning. Hence, we care the children during the day and send them home in the evening so as to strengthen the community based rehabilitation.

 As the special school is recognized, the government gives grant-in-aid to pay only three special teachers. Daily children are given break-fast, lunch and refreshment in the school. They are given uniform and learning materials. They are offered therapeutic care with the specialists and vocational training in order to make them productive. Further, a few children are in need of constant medical care and medicine intake. All these rehabilitative interventions involve a considerable resource commitment. We do not collect any fee from the students. In this region still there are a good number of students with mental disabilities but could be admitted due to lack of infrastructure and funding sources to pay the special teachers.