Kerala for All conclave: State told to cater to neuro-inclusive travel

Strong neighbourhood networks, empathy, inclusion and respect matter more than ‘specialised service’, when it comes to taking care of children with special needs, Sivadas A.K., Secretary of Autism Club, Thiruvananthapuram, said.

Speaking at a session on ‘Inclusive Tourism though a Neurodiverse Lens,’ at the Kerala for All conclave convened by Kerala Tourism in partnership with The Hindu, he said that the State, with its strong neighbourhood networks, has largely been able to cater to the needs of such children and their parents. What is needed is capacity building for stakeholders in the tourism, public transport and law enforcement sectors. Kudumbashree units too can help in this regard.

On its part, Kerala must introduce an inclusive-destination certification scheme like in the West, which ought to be highlighted in the respective websites. This is because neuro-inclusive travel is reshaping the tourism industry, what with the demand to visit quiet spaces on the increase. Travel subsidy and sensory maps of tourism destinations too are needed.

Najmul Melath, the father of a differently abled child, and the MD of Hopeshore Multidisciplinary School for Special Needs, spoke of how similarly placed parents got together to spearhead an inclusion programme for special children and their families named Special Family Support (SFS), for those facing social isolation and undue stress. This community based approach is an unpaid, informal support extended by neighbours, families, friends and society, in Kadalundy.

He exhorted donors to look around in their locality for children with special needs and to extend whatever support they can.