Loyola College has always considered differently abled students as God's special children. As proof for this, Loyola College in collaboration with Vidaya Vrikshah (a Chennai based NGO) launched a Resource Centre for the Differently Abled (RCDA) under the guidance of the Principal, Rev. Dr. Albert Muthumalai S. J. The center was inaugurated on Jan 16th, 2006 as part of students service center by Prof Eugine (Senior professor, dept of Economics) along with Mr. Krishnaswamy IPS (Retd) of Vidya Vriksha, an alumnus of the College, Dr. S.P.Thyagarajan, former Vice Chancellor, University of Madras and Dr. M. Anandakrishnan, Chairman, Madras Institute of Development Studies & former Vice Chancellor of Anna University inaugurated the center. The then Secretary Rev. Fr. F. Andrew S.J. and then Rector Rev. Dr. B. Jeyaraj S.J. also played a role of importance in inauguration of RCDA.
The then Principal, Rev. Dr. Albert Muthumalai S.J., extended an invitation to Ann Moideen of Ann Foundation USA, to attend the inauguration of RCDA. Ms Moideen, founder and President of the foundation participated in the inauguration along with her colleagues Ann Parsons (a visually impaired teacher) and Kevin Popplowell. After the inauguration, Professor S. Amalraj (Department of Tamil) took over as the staff-in-charge of the RCDA.
A few days after the inauguration, the Ann Foundation conducted a 4 day workshop for the visually challenged students. This was the first time ever a workshop for the visually challenged was conducted at Loyola College.
In 2005, Ms Moideen met with Fr. Principal, to discuss the possibilities of starting a Computer Literacy Center for the visually impaired with the use of "Jaws" software. At that time Loyola did not have any such software or the programs for the visually impaired. Ms. Moideen, played an integral role in the establishment of the 'Computer Literacy Center" for the visually impaired .She also donated two "Jaws" software to Loyola worth one lakh. Thus a 'Computer literacy' project was established by Ms. Ann Moideen of Ann Foundation, New York.
Professor Vijay, an English literature lecturer who lost his vision at a young age, participated in the workshop. He was far from being computer savvy was also very reluctant to learn computer but Ann persuaded him to undergo a crash course and he participated in the workshop. Today, he uses computers to teach students and also conduct research, opening up a realm of learning experiences and the ability to share with students at deeper level than previously possible.
In October 2006, the Ann foundation, conducted a second workshop for the visually challenged. The workshop was co-coordinated by Prof. S. Amal Raj and Mrs. Dr. Shirley Panicker, ( a faculty of the Bio technology department). The workshop was conducted by, Ann Moideen, Ann Parsons & Patricia Rex and they trained the students to use the specially designed keyboards for the visually challenged. Several visually impaired students from the College actively participated in the workshop.
On December 3rd, 2006 (World disability day), over 250 visually challenged college students from Chennai gathered at Loyola College for a seminar. The chief guest was Dr. Nagabooshanam, former Vice Chancellor of the Law University. Mr. Shridhar, a placement officer from the Social Welfare department discussed the various opportunities for learning and employment that are available to the visually challenged and the differently abled people. Various topics were discussed at the seminar and it had a big impact and was a big success. The seminar was sponsored by the Foundation for Academic Excellence and Access ( FAEA ) which is a part of the Ford foundation and Nalli Kuppuswamy Chetty.
In 2007, the RCDA got the UGC grant for the Higher Education of Persons with Special Needs (HEPSN). With this fund, Braille printers, furniture, five computers, JAWS, teaching, talking and typing software, etc. were purchased. An assistant was also appointed to assist the visually impaired students. The center was made accessible to all the differently abled students and these students made full use of these facilities during their free time. These facilities are still offering great help to the differently abled students of the college and the Center looks to develop it further.
In December 2008, Mrs. Mary Elizabeth, from the Goodwill Organization conducted a month long workshop for the third year Tamil Literature students.
In June of 2009, Professor J. Jerald Inico (Department of Computer Science) took charge of the RCDA. It was made accessible to the differently abled students by shifting it to a new location near library, which is more spacious. Rev Dr. S. Peter S.J., Secretary and Rev. Fr. K. Amal S.J., rector have played a vital role in allocating new & extra space for the centre.
The RCDA has also signed a Memorandum with the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped (NIVH).
Loyola College signed an MOU with the National Institute of Visually Handicapped, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India on the 12th June 2009 to establish a Model Resource Centre of Disability Services inside Loyola College Campus. It is the first of its kind in the nation to cater to the needs of the Differently Abled and to empower them through ICTs. Prof. J. Jerald Inico, Department of Computer Science volunteered to implement and monitor the developments of the MRCDS since June 2009.
MRCDS was inaugurated on the 1st September 2009 with 25 new Computer Systems with JAWS (Job Access with Speech). NIVH sanctioned Rupees 39,32,500 to purchase ICTs relevant to the Differently Abled and to appoint 3 supporting staff for the period of one year to help differently abled students of our College. NIVH splits the entire amount into 5 installments, paid periodically and the last installment amount was paid on the 3rd March 2011. Most of the products are manufactured by Freedom Scientific, USA which monopolizes ICTs production for persons with special needs and are universally accepted now. At present, MRCDS is absolutely ready to cater the needs of any Differently Abled of the College.
MRCDS classifies the Differently Abled students into four broad categories namely Persons with Low vision, Persons with No vision, Persons with dyslexic or learning disabilities and others. All the ICTs in the MRCDS are reviewed and purchased after consulting with the people in the industry to enable them to grab a job in the corporate sector. Although there are many screen reading software's available in the market, MRCDS prefers JAWS which is available in an American accent. MRCDS is also equipped with other screen reading software's like J-SAY, HAL, SUPER NOVA and NVDA to avoid disappointment on non-availability of JAWS in their system.
Students with low vision are aided though software's like MAGIC SCREEN MAGNIFIER, ZOOM TEXT, and INSTANT READER. LOW VISION KIT SCREENER & BONITA ELECTRONIC Mouse helps to magnify texts in the paper. Many conversion software's are also employed to convert from one regular format to the specialized format. ECLIPSE writer converts WORD documents into DAISY(XML) formatted documents, DREAON PRO converts speech into WORD text format, KURZWEIL 1000 or ABBYFINE READER converts scanned documents into editable TEXT format, OPTICAL BRAILEE CHARACTER RECOGNITION converts Braille dots into Text format, SHREE LIPI BRAILEE TRANSCRIPTION or DUXBURRY BRAILLE TRANSCRIPTION converts Tamil documents into Braille format, NHM CONVERTER converts one Tamil font face to another font face, LAME/AUDACITY converts audio into Digital voice or MP3 format and the WINBRAILLE converts English document format to Braille Format. Printing is much awaited expected service of MRCDS. After converting normal text book into the required Braille format, some specialized Printers are employed to emboss dots on the paper. Braille embosser can print dots on a paper line by line basis. SPOT DOT TIGER is a specialized printer which embosses texts along with graphical symbols, maps using dot system. It is also useful to print regular text near the embossed dots simultaneously which is usable by both Differently Abled and the guide. PIAF swell paper graphic EMBOSSING machine is also a specialized device to emboss graphical symbols, Maps along with text on a special paper.
MRCDS is also equipped with many specialized devices to enable any individual to grow intellectually. SARA TEXT READER reads texts in a book or paper without using a PC, ANGEL TALKING PACKET PLAYER to record class room lectures, replay the same on later date, reads eBooks stored in the device, also converts texts into MP3 format, VICTOR CLASSIC DAISY BOOK READER to read eBooks in a CD or in PEN DRIVE, FRANKLIN TALKING DICTIONARY to learn English, FOCUS 40 BRAILLE DISPLAYS embosses dot system line by line based on the Computer screen to enable PERSONS with No Vision & Non Hearing and TALKING CALCULATOR to perform numerical calculations.
WYNN software enables Persons with Learning disabilities to use the Computer, SPELL WELL software helps them to find alternate words or thesaurus, PEN FRIEND EXCEL WORD PREDICTION software to choose alternate words from the pop up window while typing, and INTELLI TOOL KEYBOARD enables them to touch alphabets and symbols to display the same in the computer monitor.
MRCDS also have some special ICTs to help other categories of Persons in the campus. BAT ONE HANDED KEYBOARD offers short cut keying mechanism, TALKING TYPING TUTOR & HANDS FREE SPEECH RECOGNITION software helps to practice various combination to form a sentence, IVEO TACTILE GRAPHIC AUDIO SYSTEM helps to learn scientific relationships, symbols, world map etc using specialized sheets and audio systems.
Apart from the above mentioned specialized products, MRCDS also have an audio system and the projector connected with the computer system which enables to conduct seminars and workshops inside the lab. MRCDS finds its own way to help Differently Abled students in the campus. Students are enjoying MRCDS services throughout the year even on Sundays. MRCDS is fully Air Conditioned, 24 Hours of internet connectivity, with 3 supporting staff members. Printed materials are converted here into Braille book or into Digital Voice format to be given through iPod / Pen Drive / CD / DVD / MP3 Players.
The Secretary & Correspondent Rev. Dr. C. Joe Arun S.J, and the Principal Rev. Dr. B. Jeyaraj S.J. are actively involving in the development of RCDA and MRCDS Lab in the campus after they resume their respective office.
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