Summary
of the Goals of the
Professional Awareness Campaign
Funding
Provided by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation
1) To systematically
raise the awareness and basic understanding of autism among pediatricians,
and increase the number of early and accurate diagnoses of the condition
autism. By design, this should also raise awareness of the conditions
most often mistaken for autism: mental retardation, hyperkinesis, attention
deficit disorder, and will simultaneously increase the accurate diagnoses
of these conditions.
2) To systematically
reach parents in all localities of India who have children newly diagnosed
as autistic, provide relevant information about the condition, and provide
information on how to receive further assistance. Also, to provide this
same information to parents of children already diagnosed as autistic
who are seen for follow up.
3) To estimate
how many children in India during the upcoming year are newly diagnosed
as autistic in order to estimate the extent of the condition in India.
At this point, this information is unknown.