• Neeta Deolalkar is a mother of a 24 years old girl with severe cerebral palsy. She travelled to Mumbai every day for 10 years for her daughter’s treatment. During this process, She has experienced the difficulties that the parents of children with severe disability go through. During the process of her daughter’s rehabilitation, meeting parents with similar concerns, she realised that children with Cerebral Palsy in Thane area had no access to rehabilitation services in close proximity.
• Therefore, in July 2005, she started a support group of parents of children with cerebral palsy and founded ‘Swayam Rehabilitation Centre for children with Multiple Disabilities’ in Thane.
• In 2010, she completed M. A. in Social Work in Disability Studies and Action from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Her research project for ‘Home Based Rehabilitation for Children with Cerebral Palsy- a Needs Assessment’ scored maximum in TISS.
• Since 2005, she has been relentlessly working for the well-being and betterment of children with cerebral palsy and their families as founder and Managing Trustee of ‘Swayam Rehabilitation Centre for Multiple Disabilities’ through various projects and programs. Dur- ing these years she has come across and worked with thousands of caregivers and families of children with cerebral palsy in and around Thane.
• Neeta has done Vipassana Meditation training in 2003 which helped her deal with stress bet- ter; she also completed in 2004-2005, a course in Yoga Teachers’ Training course and scored maximum in her project: ‘How Yoga Helps in Minimizing or Overcoming Stress of Parents of Children with Cerebral Palsy.
• She is a certified Rational Emotive Behavior Therapist from Institute of Psychological Health which helps her in understanding and counseling parents of children with disabilities better.
• Her hard work and relentless efforts have been applauded by Thane Municipal Corporation who awarded her the Thane Gunijan Award in 2006, Thane Gaurav in 2013 and Thane Nagar-

Ratna Puraskaar in 2015. Many private organizations from all over Maharashtra have also recognised and appreciated her efforts with many more Awards like Nav-Durga Puraskar, Seva-vrati Puraskar, Rugna seva Puraskar, Ideal Mother Award, Angel Award, Vibrant Woman Award, Woman of Substance Award, Mumbai Sustainability Award 2023 for Sustainability in Social Sphere etc.