Welcome to the Action for Autism Website!

 
 

We are Action for Autism (AFA): the pioneering, national and non-profit autism society of India. We provide support and services to persons with autism and those who work with them in South Asia. Founded in 1991, we are a parent organisation that works from legal, medical, and educational perspectives to "put autism on the Indian map." We are an Indian organisation, and our efforts are focused on the needs of those in India. At the same time, we enjoy working with autism organisations worldwide to share information, resources and assist families and children at a global level, and look forward to continuing our contact with families and professionals worldwide. To more effectively orchestrate services for the thousands of people with autism in India, we relocated to the AFA National Centre for Advocacy Research and Training in 2006.

Welcome to our website, and we hope you will enjoy learning more about autism in India and the services available through Action for Autism. We look forward to your comments, questions, and feedback.

Our Vision:
A society that views the interdependence of people of every ability
as valuable and enriching and seeks to provide equal opportunities for all.

Our Mission:
To facilitate a barrier free environment; to empower families of persons with autism,
and to act as a catalyst for change that will enable persons with autism
to live as fully participating members of the community.

Click the Brick!


Find out how you can help the autism movement in India!

CURRENT EVENTS AND NEWS

Positions at Open Door, Action For Autism
Open Door is a day program that serves as a model school for children with autism. We are looking for enthusiastic individuals with high energy and creativity, and willing to take responsibility, as well as learn and grow on the job.

Positions are available for Special Educators and Classroom Assistants.

Individuals with Diploma in Autism or equivalent training in Autism will be considered for the post of Special Educators. Classroom Assistants with Diploma in Special Education in other fields too will be considered. The selected candidate/candidates will work from 8:45 am to 4:30 pm, five days a week as well as on second Saturdays of every month. Interested candidates can submit their applications along with their CVs to Action For Autism Pkt 7 & 8 Jasola Vihar New Delhi 110025. Please mark envelopes 'SEN Open Door'. Or they may email their applications to <positions.afa@gmail.com> by May 2008.

April 2008 issue of Autism Network- coming soon.

AFA Mother Child Programme
Action For Autism's Mother Child Programme is run three times a year, sessions starting each January, July and October. A group of approximately 10 to 15 mothers train together (with their children) throughout the duration of the programme incorporating elements of different interaction-based interventions. The programme seeks to maximize the benefits of the time that a mother spends with her child, teaching focused one on one intervention tailored individually to each child and taking into account the child's strengths, emerging skills and weakest skill areas. Click here for more information.

One year Postgraduate Diploma in Music Therapy
Following the success of its first year training programme in Delhi, The Music Therapy Trust is inviting potential students to apply to the second year of its
one year Postgraduate Diploma in Music Therapy in Delhi and a new course starting in Mumbai. Jointly organised by Action for Autism and The Music Therapy
Trust, this one year full-time course covers all aspects of Music Therapy enabling
students to qualify as a Professional Music Therapist. Both courses start in September 2008. (read more here)

More Related to Music:
Escape to Cyprus & Help Guide a Musical Talent with Asperger’s
The musical talent is a 27 year old talented musician with Asperger’s Syndrome. Based in Nicosia, Cyprus this interesting young woman is fairly independent and self-motivated, with the ability to communicate and make friends. She requires a patient, persevering and if possible fellow music lover, qualified in Psychology and/ or Education to educate and enhance her behavioural and social skills.

If you have experience in attending to the development of individuals with Asperger’s, believe you are the right person for this role and would value the opportunity of support from a leading global expert in the field of Asperger’s please click on the link below for more information and to apply online and prepare to embark on a truly fulfilling opportunity. See: http://www.sfsct.com

India launches an affordable, government sponsored health insurance plan for people with autism, mental disorders and multiple disabilities
Read about it in our Legal Updates section.

Need information about Information on Tax Deductions?
Under the Income Tax Act, 1961, as amended by Finance Act, 2007, there are tax benefits available to families of children with autism. You must have a certificate of autism in order to qualify for these benefits. Read more here.

AFA Summer Camp
12 May - 7 June 2008
National Centre for Autism

The camp will run 9:00-12:00 pm each day from Monday to Friday,
with the Closing Party on Saturday 7 June 2008.
Activities offered include pool play, music, arts and craft, sensory therapy, and more.
In addition, individual therapy sessions with special educators and occupational therapist will be available to interested families during the period.
We apologize that registration is now closed and the camp is fully booked. For reference, click here for our flyer or contact Saumya at AFA.

Upcoming Training Opportunities:

Behaviour Modification: At Home, At School, and in the Community
6th May 2008 * New Delhi
Behaviour modification is used with all children, but plays a particularly significant role in the management of children with various developmental disabilities. The difficulties faced by individuals on the autistic spectrum in particular...(read more here)

Enabling Communication
7th May 2008 * New Delhi
Unlike other developmental disabilities, language and communication take completely different developmental paths in autism. Speech does not equate communication...(read more here)

AFA Annual Training Workshop: Understanding Children with ASD
1-5 October 2008 * New Delhi
AFA’s annual workshops are an eagerly awaited event each year. The workshops build on an understanding of ASD and work through teaching various cognitive, communication, and daily living skills. Free of jargon, the workshops are illustrated with practical examples based on AFA's hands-on experience and exposure to children with autism of varying ages and across the spectrum, and follow a format of lectures, a demonstration class, video clips, question and answer sessions and discussions... (read more here)

Volunteer Information Packet Available Now
Discover how you can become an AFA volunteer

World Autism Awareness Day Celebrated
April 2nd, 2008

The United Nations General Assembly, by unanimous consent, passed the resolution of the Third Committee designating April 2nd as World Autism Awareness Day in perpetuity starting in 2008. In India, children with Autism, their parents and other caregivers met with heads of state and other local dignitaries all over India and handed over the Autism Rights Charter.

Action For Autism actively collaborated with South Asian partners in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan to create mass awareness on this day. As a part of observance of WAAD in Delhi, Action for Autism organized a series of events in the city named Autism Awareness Jamboree (AAJ). In Hindi, aaj means “Today.” See links below for a description of events related to WAAD in South Asia.

Press Coverage and Reports on WAAD from throughout India

Events in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

WAAD message from U.N. Secretary General

WAAD message from the President of India


Action for Autism presents the
Charter of Rights of Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder have the same rights and privileges: civic, economic, and political as enjoyed by all citizens of their country. They have a right to be treated as equal with full human rights and fundamental freedoms and without discrimination...(read more here)

See recent legal updates on autism in India

Free Podcasts Available from Midnight in Chicago
Listen to topics such as Autism, Asperger Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorders, AS and ASD Web Resources and Forum Communities, Autism on the Homefront: Parenting Autistics, Autism and the Media, Autism and Bullying
http://mic.mypodcast.com/

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK
What would you like to see on the AFA website? Email us and let us know!

Read the Autism Network: December 2007

Recently finished... The South Asian Regional Conference on Autism
Thank you to all who presented at, attended, and supported this event. We are thrilled at the response and success of this meeting.
Check back soon for a full review. For pictures, see these from AACTION Autism: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aaction/

Want to know what it was?
Day by day schedule
Presentation abstracts
Speaker information

Heartspring Staff Visit AFA
In July, one of our staff, Merry Barua, was named a 2007 winner of the Heartspring Award for Innovation and Creativity in Special Education. Merry attended the summer conference in Wichita, Kansas and had the opportunity to learn from the Heartspring teachers and therapists, other awardees, and to share about Action for Autism and Open Door. In November, we spent a terrific week with staff from Heartspring as we introduced them to the work we do. Read about this visit through Chris's blog. We will be writing about Heartspring more in an upcoming issue of the Autism Network. Learn more about our collaboration with Heartspring and their organization at their site.

AACTION Autism
Another organization with whom we have begun a relationship is AACTION Autism, which stands for Action Awareness Campaign Through International Organizations Networking. Aaction Autism is based in Chicago, IL, and shares our commitment to serving families of children with autism and partnerships between organizations. From In January 2008, six volunteers from the organization will will be working with staff from AFA to provide information and training. Learn more about this organization at the Aaction Autism site.

Make a Donation
Action for Autism is now accepting donations in 16 currencies through PayPal, a secure and easy way to send money from outside India. Our account is actionforautism@gmail.com. For those who are interested in subscribing to the Autism Network, or purchasing anything else from AFA, PayPal can also be used. Anyone can sign up for a PayPal account at http://www.paypal.com. For more information, visit our page on getting involved with AFA.

Autism materials available in Indian languages
We are periodically asked for information in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, and other Indian language. AFA has received funds to translate other materials, and we will provide information when these are available. The National Autistic Society (of the U.K.) has published some materials in Indian languages, free of charge. Others are available for a cost. Links to these resources are available here. For additional materials in Hindi, please see PDF versions of the Autism Network, which contain articles in Hindi.

Good Read: ‘Unstrange Minds’
by Roy Richard Grinker
http://www.unstrange.com/

“Unstrange Minds begins with Roy Richard Grinker's personal story: his family's battles with the school system, the rare orchid his daughter Isabel plucked at the Smithsonian, and a day in Monet's garden that changed Isabel forever. But because Grinker is an anthropologist as well as a father, Unstrange Minds takes us across the globe-to South Korea, South Africa, Peru, and India…”

We recommend this book to families and professionals wishing both to understand more about autism as well as those interested in cultural aspects of the disorder—such as its impact on families in India. AFA has a copy in our library, which can be borrowed by those in Delhi. See the August 2007 Autism Network for a review of the book.

Diploma in Special Education (Autistic Spectrum Disorder)
Training Course 2007-2008
Action for Autism offers training in one of the most challenging and exciting areas of Special Education. AFA has pioneered teaching strategies based on extensive practical experience and internationally used sound behavioural principles, adapted to the Indian condition. Successful candidates receive placements in leadings organizations. Our current course is now underway.

Print Version of Autism Network Available to Members
AFA takes great pleasure in sharing information with parents, special educators, and other carers of individuals with autism. We have been generous about mailing our periodical Autism Network out to even those who are not members of Action For Autism. However, this comes at a financial cost. We regretfully announce that starting with the issue of April 2007, we will be able to mail Autism Network out only to our members. We know that many of our readers value the information they receive in the periodical. We therefore request all of you to support us in continuing to send you the periodical by taking a membership of Action For Autism. We encourage parents to preferably take a Life Membership and others to take a Full Membership of the organisation. Individuals may also take an Associate Membership in order to receive Autism Network. With your membership you not only help defray the costs of sharing information, you also contribute towards the empowerment of the autism community. Membership information available here. Autism Network will continue to be available on our website, at our journal link.

News feeds on autism in Indian news publications
Visit this link if you are interested in recent articles in the Indian press, provided by RSS. RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds, or podcasts.

Spreading Reach in a Low-Resourced Environment
Read Merry Barua's paper from the 2006 AWARES conference

The "Other" Action for Autism: Mike Stanton’s Blog shares our name

NATIONAL CENTRE DEDICATION
AFA is pleased to announce that the dedication of the National Centre for Autism by Ms. Sonia Gandhi was held on September 8, 2006
Read remarks by Sonia Gandhi
Read remarks by AFA Director
View entire souvenir
Read a brief report on the dedication

Autism in Indian Cinema: Cultural Representations of Disability
by Sudha Rai, University of Rajasthan

See also: 'Film World to Support Autism'
an article from The Times of India