Meet the Team: Our Co-Founder Shashikala M S

1. Please introduce yourself - where are you from, where do you live, what are some of your interests outside of work?

I am Shashikala M S, a journalist by profession and an educator by vocation. Besides these two, I am an entrepreneur and a story teller. I love to grow plants and dabble in needle work. I live and work in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. All this apart and perhaps more importantly, I am a mother to two wonderful young adults, a son and a daughter, in that order, who are making their place under the sun.

2. You began your career in journalism and media, before transitioning into special education with Leap Years and Adiksha Foundation. What prompted this transition?

I have not transitioned. I have expanded my horizon to include special education. I wandered into child development when motherhood took over. And did a course in special education (autism) when I saw my peer parents of children with special needs distraught for lack of learning spaces for their children.

3.What inspired you to start Leap Years instead of joining an existing organisation?

I started off as a special educator with a speech and language pathologist and then in a Montessori House of Children only to realise I was not really serving the children I meant to. Because autistics don't follow our path; they make their own learning paths and we need to facilitate their journey. Neither of the organisations I worked with seemed to understand this. They meant well; just didn't follow the child. Thus was born Leap Years, aiming to be a space for children to learn at their own pace, joyously. 

4. How did you meet Dr. Kalpana? Can you tell us about your journey as co-founder of Strenzio?

Kalpana was introduced by a neighbour and I can't thank her enough. We took our time. Kalpana initially helped us discover the strengths of our children. Our temperament and objective matched and we found ourselves fitting like missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

5.What was missing, or what gaps did you observe in the neurodiverse education space that made you co-found Strenzio?

Affordable, quality programmes that leveraged the strength of the children were sorely missing. Everybody tries to fix the child without considering the child’s inherent strengths, interests and needs. Excessive focus on ‘behaviour’ takes away from a child's ability to do a million other things.

6.How has your experience at Leap Years helped shape the vision for Strenzio?

Leap Years believed in addressing the child, not the labels of disability. We found that finding strengths to nurture increased learning outcomes while building the child’s self esteem.

7.Why do you think that the education system focuses more on fixing weaknesses rather than nurturing strengths?

Education systems were designed to produce a minimum level of competence in everyone, not to maximise each individual's unique talents and potential. Perhaps driven by industrialisation that demands standardization. That naturally leads to a focus on deficits and fixing the ‘gaps’.

8.Can you tell us a little bit about the Strength Based Learning Model at Strenzio, and why this philosophy is more holistic in child development?

The Strenzio programme begins with a simple question: What can this child do? 

Usually, educators start with a list of deficits: what the child cannot read, write, speak or understand. 

Challenges and deficits are real and need support, but a child’s identity is much more than the sum of his deficits and shortcomings. We believe every child has strengths, whether it is an exceptional memory, visual thinking, music, movement, pattern recognition, empathy, creativity or curiosity about a subject.

When learning is built around those strengths, children see success, which builds confidence; confidence increases motivation, and motivation opens the door to learning areas that were once difficult. Instead of trying to fit every child into the same mould, we adapt the learning to the child.

Development does not circle around. For us, holistic development is not about academic scores alone; it is more about confidence, effective communication, openness to learning and the ability to understand self.

9.What are some strengths that are commonly overlooked in neurodivergent children?

We often notice what neurodivergent children struggle with before we notice what they excel at. That is a missed opportunity.

Many autistic children have extraordinary visual thinking, attention to detail, honesty and the ability to focus deeply on subjects they love. Children with ADHD are often incredibly creative, spontaneous and capable of thinking beyond conventional solutions. Some children have remarkable memories, others have a strong sense of fairness, empathy or an intuitive understanding of systems and patterns.

These strengths may not always show up in examinations or classroom assessments, but are important in real life.

10.If you could influence one policy or systemic change in special education in India, what would it be?

I would like to see a shift from a diagnosis-driven system to a needs-based system.

I would also like every teacher—not just special educators—to receive training in inclusive education. Inclusion cannot succeed if it is seen as the responsibility of one specialist. It has to become part of the culture of every classroom.

11. Where do you see the special education space in India evolving towards over the next 5-10 years?

There is much greater awareness today than there was a decade ago, at least in urban areas. Parents are seeking support earlier, schools are becoming more open to inclusion and conversations around neurodiversity are becoming more positive.

However, awareness must now translate into quality practice. We need better teacher preparation, stronger collaboration between educators and families, evidence-based interventions and meaningful transition programmes that prepare young adults for higher education, employment and independent living.

12.You mention wanting to become a farmer one day. What draws you to farming?

I feel grounded and collected when I am working on the farm. Farming teaches patience, humility and respect. As educators, we often talk about growth, but farming reminds us that growth cannot be forced. 

Like Saint Kabir says, 

धीरे-धीरे रे मना, धीरे सब कुछ होय।

माली सींचे सौ घड़ा, ऋतु आए फल होय॥

You prepare the soil, plant the seed, nurture it consistently and trust the process. Every plant grows at its own pace, just as every child does.