Dr. Alok Kumar "Bhuwan" · PhD (Special Education) · Founder, Manovikas Charitable SocietyEmpowering Lives Through Dignity & Opportunity
Research & Ideas · Science in service

Evidence over anecdote.

A PhD in Special Education whose research is a free public tool. Fifty-plus scientific works. Four ideas that changed the field.

The SDS-IDD

India's first scale that measures self-determination in adults with IDD

Self-determination means thinking and deciding for yourself. India had no tested tool to measure it for persons with intellectual disabilities. Dr. Alok's doctoral research created one — and gave it to the nation, free.

Easy readThis tool asks 25 questions about daily life. It shows how independently a person can choose and decide. Anyone can take it. It is free.
Take the free SDS-IDD assessment →
α = 0.86reliability (Cronbach's alpha)
25items across 12 life areas
100adults in the validation study
ISBNpublished 2025 · public domain
Four ideas

Ideas that changed the field

1 · The MIHE Model

India's first college for adult learners with benchmark disabilities and high support needs. ~30 programmes, ~500 learners from across India — with IGNOU, NIOS (AVI990263), RCI and Central Sanskrit University. Built on Universal Design for Learning; aligned with NEP 2020 and NSQF.

Visit MIHE →

2 · Community to Corporate (C2C)

From classroom to real jobs at equal pay. Structured NSQF-aligned transition into open employment — with three trainees honoured by the President and Vice President of India.

3 · The Self-Advocacy Curriculum

Teaching persons with IDD to speak, choose, and lead. "Nothing about us, without us" — practised at the very top: self-advocates are voting members of the Manovikas governing board.

4 · Music & Dance Therapy (MDTP)

India's Vedic arts, systematised as therapy for children with disabilities — presented at the International Dance Council (CID–UNESCO), Paris, 2019.

The Digital Library

Selected works

Fifty-plus scientific works across books, scales, policy research, manuals, and global papers. The full archive is being digitised.

Legacies of Impact (2024)

The Reeta Peshawaria Oration Award and pioneers in disability rehabilitation — compiled & published by Manovikas; designed by a self-advocate; unveiled by Dr. Kiran Bedi.

Read online →

Ethics and Inclusion (2025)

A bilingual workbook for professional ethics in disability rehabilitation.

On Academia.edu →

RPwD Act 2016 — implementation assessment

Peer-reviewed policy research on the ground reality of India's disability rights law (IJFMR).

Request a copy 📧

Inclusion is a Right · IEP/IFSP manuals · Aarambh guides

Books and field manuals from three decades of practice.

Available on request 📧

Profiles: Google Scholar · Academia.edu · ORCID

Contributions recognised globally

Contributor, WHO ICD-11 field studies (Global Clinical Practice Network, 2014) · Country Representative, Council for Exceptional Children (USA) · Represented India in Japan (2001) · Presented at CID–UNESCO, Paris (2019).

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