Heres How This Special Sibling Is Building An Inclusive World For People With Developmental Disabilities

Image Credits: From The Source and Instagram

Here's How This Special Sibling Is Building An Inclusive World For People With Developmental Disabilities

Often people view society from a tunnelled view which rejects anyone who deviates from the set notions. Breaking through these ideas, Pooja Sharma began the Sarvodya Collective to bring people with IDD to the mainstream and create an inclusive community. 

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Intellectual and Developmental Disorder (IDD) is a disability that affects the intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviour of the people affected by it. Persons with IDD (PwIDD) often face difficulty in learning, problem-solving, judgement-making, communication, and even living independently.

Around two to three per cent of India's population (accounting for roughly 35 million individuals) live with a certain IDD and a good share of them have been cast away from the mainstream due to the negative perceptions about their capabilities. These are numbers that are more than the entire population of Delhi, but somehow it has almost always been taken lightly.

Combating this concern from a grassroots level, the founder of The Sarvodya Collective - Pooja Sharma, built a space that enables the community to understand developmental disabilities better and work towards creating an inclusive world where everyone is represented.

Special Siblings And Special Parents Come Together For A Cause

Sarvodya is a non-profit collective working with a vision to build an inclusive and enabling community around every individual with IDD. About 36 per cent of children between the age of six and thirteen with IDD have remained out of school or have been asked to drop out despite their right to education. Many institutions either do not have the resources that cater to their learning needs or are scared that the PwIDD would bring down the school's average performance.

The many negative notions surrounding them also make it difficult for them to obtain employment opportunities or any form of assistance in the same.

To tackle these concerns, Sarvodya believes that awareness and education play a key role. Founder Pooja Sharma, who has described herself as a 'super sibling', is someone who sincerely believes in the transformative power of education and has been passionately creating this space which brings about positive social changes.

Working along with her as the lead subject matter expert on intellectual disabilities is Dr Shanti Auluck, who has had an illustrious profile as a teacher and is the founder of the award-winning NGO Muskaan, which serves people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Both members along with a sensitised team have proactively attempted to understand the issues faced by PwIDD on a daily basis and create awareness surrounding it.

They have been able to employ several awareness resources to bolster an inclusive community. Starting off in 2020 in the form of the #StepUp4Sarvodya campaign, they found that they would be able to go beyond the tip of the iceberg by transforming it into a larger cause that actively addresses the needs of PwIDD and caregivers.

This idea is what evolved into the Sarvodya Collective. Over the years now, they have been transforming the ecosystem serving PwIDD, which includes their families, service providers, and an even broader community.

Understanding IDD Better Through Sarvodya

"A Rainbow Is A Rainbow, And Just As Beautiful, Whatever The Colours!" reads one of the posts made under an initiative of the Sarvodya Collective.

Exploring through the broad spectrum of IDD, each and every aspect of the organisation is dedicated to helping people understand disabilities better and sensitise themselves on how being different does not necessarily mean being any less capable than the others.


IDD manifests in the developmental years and is characterised by an Intelligence Quotient (IQ) of less than 70. However, what is lesser known is that about 85 per cent of IDD cases exist in mild forms and if diagnosed at an early stage, can be adequately supported through early intervention or therapy. These options could help PwIDD to lead a relatively independent life. Despite the widespread instances of IDD, a lack of awareness regarding these possibilities has limited them from the mainstream.

The organisation strongly believes that a change in this narrative could positively lift the community, as well as the country.

Contributions that are enabled through an inclusive space could also effectively catalyse the country in achieving its Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs). We still stand far away from this reality as millions continue to be left out of the mainstream in all phases of life, from education, healthcare, and employment, to even public spaces.

Ingrained attitudes in regard to the capacities of the neurodivergent have deepened over the years and attached themselves to a discriminatory social structure. With many mindsets continuing to be non-inclusive, these changemakers have spent years ideating and discovering options that could nudge PwIDD to the mainstream. Discovering, learning, and developing their perspectives, they built tiered efforts towards the same.

Having initially looked into parent support needs in the Nuh district of Haryana; they kicked off their first social media campaign on Down Syndrome Awareness. This then kicked off active parenting campaigns and research projects that explored IDD from a broader lens. Sarvodya then collaborated with multiple organisations, including the Down Syndrome Federation of India, Muskaan, JaiVakeel, and Club Youngistaan, and launched multiple inclusivity campaigns.

Among these were the Dabung girl comic and the flagship awareness initiative "Inclusive Duniya". Under the initiative came several ideas such as the instacomic Naina's Inclusive Duniya, 'Inclusive Duniya' Buddy Circles, Hangouts, and Reading Circles. All these elements fit in like puzzle pieces and pieced together a space that created awareness and acted upon it. The comics are being read widely and have received several positive responses for showing IDD in a different light. The buddy circles connect a neurotypical with a neurodivergent and enhance their social capacities and allyship through shared activities such as hangouts and reading sessions. A sensitive space was facilitated for both the neurodivergents and neurotypicals to reflect upon ideas and accommodate the same into building an inclusive environment.


A glimpse at their social media profiles and one would be taken through the many stories of lived experiences and thought-provoking perspectives. This inclusive duniya that they have built with sensitivity and compassion continues to grow with the support of allies, advocates, and a large bunch of community members hoping to bring positive change and representation.

Also Read: Trendsetters! Six NGOs Working Towards Inclusion Of Disabled Children And Adults In India

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Editor : Snehadri Sarkar
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Creatives : Laxmi Mohan Kumar

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