‘The Owl House’ has online sessions for disabled youth & their families

Goa based ‘The Owl House’ is a center that provides therapy, special education and vocational training to youngsters with disabilities. The many activities at the center aims to empower and make disabled people independent to face the outside world. Currently, they are running online sessions to reach out to youngsters with disabilities and their families during the COVID-19 times.

The lockdown has been hard on people across the world. It has definitely been harder for youngsters with disabilities and their families too. Many NGO’s and organizations from across India have come forward to reach out to such people in need during these hard times. One amongst them is Goa based The Owl House. A center that empowers youngsters with all kinds of disabilities as well as their families, ‘The Owl House’ has a handful of initiatives for disabled children and their families to engage in during this lockdown period.

What is ‘The Owl House’?

Situated in the midst of Goa, amongst the serene beaches and greens, ‘The Owl House’ was started by Priya Sule, Marc Francis and Clayton D’Souza in April 2018. The initiative was created under the ‘AbleTree Foundation’. The center was started for youngsters with all kinds of disabilities with the sole intention of empowering them to face the big wide world outside.

The team at ‘The Owl House’ claims that all their projects are focused on making youngsters with disabilities an integral part of the society in some way or the other. From therapies to vocational training, everything is provided under one roof. People from the age of 16-38 years and above are part of the venture.

Currently, 54 students are undergoing sessions at ‘The Owl House’. Their team of professionals and special educators ensure that all of them gets nothing lesser than the best at the center.

Reaching out to disabled people and their families during COVID-19 times

‘The Owl House’ had shut down their center due to the lockdown. But that has not stopped them from doing various activities for reaching out to people with disabilities.

“As soon as the lockdown was announced, we started sanitization of the center. All our staffs were shifted to online services. We also started a helpline number so that people with disabilities and their families from across India could reach out to us. We believe that more than youngsters with disabilities, their families need support now. So we talk to them to support their mental health. We also talk to them about how to deal with kids who have behavioral issues”, says Priya Kataria, Instruction and Design Manager, ‘The Owl House’.

All the services at the center are free of cost and it runs on generous donations from kind-hearted people. Priya says that their center has been successful in creating awareness about disabilities in and around Goa to a large extent. They plan to expand the venture as well.

Reactions on social media

Their social media is flooded with positive reviews and comments about the center and the services that they offer.

“Each and every activities which is done in Owl house is with lot of dedication and hard work..I highly recommend owl house..as they do wonders with our kids”, says Suchi Sharma.

“I visited The Owl House In February this year and was impressed with the specially trained team members providing support and guidance to kids with autism and their parents. And that every child with autism has unique strength and challenges which is very well attended to at The Owl House”, says Lorraine Alexander.

The online services of ‘The Owl House’ are available to everyone. You can also call the center at +91 72649-38800.

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