Project Mumbai starts counselling service for parents of disabled kids to cope with COVID-19 related stress

People with disabilities are among the most vulnerable during the coronavirus or COVID-19 lockdown. Many parents of children with disabilities are also struggling to cope with the anxiety levels of their kids. To address their concerns, Project Mumbai has started a pan-India counselling service.

As the spread of coronavirus grows, so too are people’s stress levels and anxieties. To help them cope with their worries, prominent NGO Project Mumbai has started free counselling services.

From 8 am to 8 pm, seven days a week, you can dial in and share your fears or queries with experts.

“We have 50 counsellors from across India volunteering in this initiative”, says Shishir Joshi, CEO and Co-Founder, Project Mumbai. “The service is available in eight languages and we are getting calls from across the country”. Among the callers was a paraplegic person whose maid is unable to come to work due to the lockdown.

Counselling service for parents of disabled kids

Project Mumbai has also started a counselling service specifically for parents of children with disabilities. With schools shut, children’s routines are disrupted. Many parents are calling with many questions, ranging from ways to address their kids’ anxiety levels to activity ideas. This service was launched on Friday and there was a call within four minutes.

We have 30 special needs therapists on board. On the first day, we got 14 calls and on the second, the numbers were even higher. There is clearly a crying need for this. We equipped the therapists with an idea of the questions they are likely to be asked and given them activity ideas to share. The good thing is that people are opening up because until now special needs counselling has been a private matter and not many people really make a call to talk about what they are experiencing. – Shishir Joshi, Co-Founder/CEO, Project Mumbai

Among the therapists to volunteer is paediatric occupational therapist and Project Noor founder Shabnam Rangwala. “One of the main challenges parents are sharing relate to keeping their child occupied. Many kids, especially those on the autism spectrum, are finding it hard to deal with the change in routine”.

Service available in 8 languages

The therapists have a range of activities they are sharing with callers. Do check the service out. Visit the website of Project Mumbai to access the helpline numbers. You can choose to communicate in the language of your choice.

If you want to volunteer your service, email here.

Also Read:

• Here are some guidelines that parents of disabled children must follow during Coronavirus times