One of the key focus areas in Adarsh is making the children as self-dependent as possible in their daily activities. That begins from brushing their teeth to making their beds to wearing their clothes, and all those basic activities that can help them get through the day. And making the children independent is not an easy task. Especially, when most of them, if not all, cannot actually identify, let alone verbalise, what exactly is posing a challenge to their daily lives.

Teaching them to brush their teeth begins with teaching them to identify their own brushes. Learning to wear their own clothes may take several days or even weeks, followed by several more weeks of learning to button up. For them, every single day is a struggle. Only the caregivers, with their unwavering observation and unrelenting attention, are able to recognize the little issues the children struggle with on a daily basis.

It’s in this context that young Aarushy’s design interventions become relevant, or rather godsent, to Adarsh. Aarushy is a student of fashion design who came to Adarsh as an intern. In the two weeks that she spent with the children, she closely engaged with them. And that’s when she noted the children’s lack of comfort in the clothes they wore. Not to mention their struggle to don and doff by themselves. She gained more insight into the problem through her interactions with the teachers and the feedback received from the parents.

Aarushy realised that what the children needed was adaptive clothing in personalised, inclusive designs which would help the children feel more comfortable in their dresses. She introduced the staff of Adarsh and the parents to the concept of inclusivity in clothing design. She developed a few scribbles that addressed the special needs of the children. Moreover, she also implemented her design to provide the school with a sample. Wrap-around style for shirts and blouses to avoid the need to button/zip up, attached aprons to deal with drooling, openings at the crotch to help with meeting their toilet needs, etc. are some of the children-friendly revisions introduced by the young designer. The management and staff at Adarsh are seriously looking into the suggestions for improvement made by Aarushy in the children’s daywear.

Aarushy’s inputs have been a great eye-opener for the mentors and the management at Adarsh. Her scribbles will most assuredly help ease the daily struggles of not only the children but also their parents and caregivers.

We sincerely wish Aarushy utmost success in her chosen career! We are sure she will make a difference in the world of functional fashion.