Reminiscence tea-party & luncheon

Together with group members who attend the Activity Centre of the Lanka Alzheimer's Foundation, the final year speech and language therapy students of Batch 4 organized a tea-party on the 26th of October 2015 and a luncheon titled 'Reminiscence' on the 30th of October 2015. The aim was to celebrate and share the work undertaken by the students and members of the groups during the student clinical placement with family members, the staff of the centre and the staff of the Department of Disability Studies. The entertainment programme which formed part of the event included individual and group songs, poetry, a drama performance, dance, quizzes and games.

Welcoming a Senior Fulbright Fellow

The Department welcomed Prof. Peggy Gallagher, a visiting Senior Fulbright Fellow who is Professor and Coordinator of Early Childhood Special Education at the Department of Educational Psychology, Special Education and Communication Disorders at Georgia State University, USA. Her visit was supported by the US-Sri Lanka Fulbright Commission and Cerebral Palsy Lanka Foundation.

In collaboration with the Kelaniya Fulbright Alumni, the department organised a tea party to welcome Prof. Gallagher on the 10th of December 2015 at the English Language Teaching Unit. The event was attended by distinguished Fulbright alumni of our university Prof. M. J. S. Wijeyaratne, Prof. S. R. D. Kalingamudali, Dr. Suren Peter, Dr. Romola Rassool, Dr. Kaushalya Perera and Ms. Prabha Manuratne, Fulbright alumna Ms. Dilini Walisundara of the University of Jayawardenapura and members of staff of our department.

The gathering remembered with great respect Chair Professor of English, Prof. Manique Gunesekera, a distinguished Fulbright alumni, who passed away early December. Prof. M. J. S. Wijeyaratne spoke on behalf of the Kelaniya Fulbright alumni encouraging collaborative research. This was followed by Prof. Peggy Gallagher who recounted her first visit to Sri Lanka in the 1980s and shared her plans on her current visit aimed at reviewing the training offered on inclusive/special education to teachers.

Following the tea party, Prof. Gallagher had a meeting with the Vice Chancellor, Prof.Sunanda Madduma Bandara.

Marking World Disability Day

To mark World Disability Day on the 03rd of December 2015 and in-line with the 'Go Green' campaign of the university, student representatives from Batch 5 organised the first phase of a 'Sensory Garden' on the front lawn of the Department of Disability Studies. The students worked together with children accessing our in-house community speech and language therapy clinics.

Inclusive Children's Theatre Workshops

 As part of the 'Common Ground' Inclusive Arts Platform and the work undertaken towards organising an inclusive arts space at the Children's Festival of the Galle Literary Festival in January 2016, two more inclusive children's theatre workshops were offered. Students and staff of the Department of Disability Studies and local working speech and language therapists organised the inclusive theatre workshops for children with and without disabilities in Ragama and Kalmunai.

The workshops were conducted in Sinhala, Tamil, English and Sri Lankan Sign Language together with pictorial and sensory support with the following participants:

• Ragama: Children at the Child Development Centre
• Kalmunai: Students of Human Link, Maruthamunai and Km/Al-matheena Vidyalaya, Maruthamunai

The workshop activities were discussed with Mr. Priyankara Rathnayaka, Senior Lecturer of the Fine Arts Department (Drama & Theatre and Image Arts Unit) of the University of Kelaniya who helped to formulate the workshop programme offered.