Over one crore children in India are estimated to be on the autism spectrum and the numbers only seem to be rising with each passing day. When G. Vijaya Raghavan, founder CEO of Technopark Trivandrum and founder–Director of National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) was a member of the Planning Board of Kerala, he noticed that there was a dearth of infrastructure to support children and individuals on the Autism spectrum, and decided to do something about it. CADRRE was registered as a not-for-profit organisation on 30 December 2016, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala with the support of a group of likeminded people, such as K.Nandakumar of SunTec Business Solutions, UST and the Chandaria Foundation as donor patrons.
Our journey started with an initial team of 4 professionals, working from a room of a house, they put together assessment formats, developed a curriculum, procured therapy and intervention tools and looked into the design of CADRRE’s first facility. Their visits to the best institutions working in Autism in the US and UK and in India informed our choices.
The CADRRE Model
CADRRE has advocated an interdisciplinary model that aims at the holistic development of the child. Our team along with parents evaluate and draw out an individualized education plan (IEP) for each child, which is implemented and monitored periodically. We offer sessions on speech therapy, occupational therapy and life skills, social skills, academics, Ayurveda, art, music and dance as part of our curriculum. Group sessions are encouraged as compared to one-to-one sessions to facilitate social interactions, communication (verbal and non-verbal) and learning in a vibrant environment. Parents, caregivers and others who interact with the children regularly form an integral part of the CADRRE model. They are taught through training modules developed by CADRRE that help them understand and manage their child’s autism.
Free assessment clinic
Our first offering was a free assessment clinic for autism by a team comprising of a paediatrician, occupational therapist, speech language pathologist and psychologist. Into its 5th year, in 2022-23, the clinic has done around 600 detailed assessments, each taking 2-3 hours, guiding families to handle their child’s Autism diagnosis.
Autism School
In September 2017, CADRRE opened the doors of our first centre -The Autism School – a 4000-square-feet rental property in the heart of Trivandrum city, repurposed and redesigned to offer a full-day intervention program in a school setting to children from the age of 2 years to 18 years by an interdisciplinary team of speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, psychologists, educators, art and music teachers, a paediatrician and an Ayurveda physician. The team along with parents evaluate and draw out an individualized education plan (IEP) for each child, which is implemented and monitored periodically. Group sessions are encouraged to facilitate social interactions and communication. Parents and other caregivers form an integral part of the CADRRE model. They are taught through training modules developed by CADRRE to understand and manage their child’s autism.
The centre has landscaped gardens, butterfly garden, sensory walkways and a sensory wading pool, sensory room, aviary, toy library, and well thought out classrooms that suit the needs of the children.
Each day begins for the children at 8.30am assembling in the common hall to dance to the wake-up song, greet their friends and a session of yoga. Students then move in to their respective classes for sessions in speech therapy, occupational therapy and life skills, social skills, academics, art and music. Children who are inclined to academics are taught grade-level curriculum with the aim to mainstream them into regular inclusive schools.
We grew rapidly, to 12 students and 19 staff members by the end of our first academic year, and now in our 5th year, to over 50 students and 40 professionals supported by 20 support staff.
Second centre
CADRRE’s second centre was a natural progression of wanting to accommodate older children on the spectrum. It began operations in June 2019, again from a vintage building in a beautifully landscaped campus in the heart of the city. Besides the landscaped gardens, sensory walkways, sensory room and aviary, this centre also has an art studio and an Activities of Daily Living room, to be able to impart training in activities of daily living and vocational skills, besides functional academics, to our older children in the age group 11-18 years. Vocational skills such as block and screen printing, soap making, decoupage, cooking, and pottery have been identified so far and are being taught to the children. Yoga, music therapy, art therapy, dance and movement therapy along with conventional therapy are provided to all the children.
Ongoing Intervention for school-going children
When CADRRE started receiving multiple requests for after-school therapy for school-going children with Autism and associated difficulties, we launched the Ongoing intervention program in September 2021 even though we were in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and the program had to be offered online. Intervention is given for 1.5 hours each day in communication skills, life skills, social skills, academics, art, ICT, music based on the requirement of the child and his IEP. By November 2021, we were able to make the sessions in-person and we now have a small cohort of children coming to us enthusiastically after their regular day at school, benefitting from sessions by professionals who truly understand their challenges and can devise ways to overcome them.
Parent-mediated intervention
Evidence-based, interdisciplinary early intervention services for children diagnosed with Autism are not easily available in all parts of India. Hence many children do not get appropriate, adequate and timely intervention. Through its parent-mediated intervention program delivered by an interdisciplinary team of specialists, CADRRE aims to empower parents to be their children’s primary therapists. The program was launched in September 2022 and is supported by donations raised by CADRRE and is thus free-of-cost to deserving families. Children below 6 years of age who show symptoms of Autism are given an intense training for 3 weeks in the presence of their parents, thereby training the parents to work with their children. The follow-up sessions for 2 years ensure that the parents are continually guided and the child’s progress is on track.
Employability Training Program
The young adult autism population faces significant, additional challenges to employment beyond those faced by many other disability populations. CADRRE started getting innumerable enquiries about what we can do for young adults with autism seeking a meaningful daily routine, let alone a livelihood. We also had to think ahead for our children in The Autism School when they transition out of the school system, for most of whom higher education is not an option. This, and the success of our Skills Building program for the older children at The Autism School prompted us to work on an Employability Training Program that equips young adults on the autism spectrum, in the age-group of 18-24 years, who have finished higher secondary school, with the skills required to be employable. CADRRE was able to receive support for the project from SBI Card and Payment Services Limited thus making the 9-12 months of training free to our trainees – 4-6 months of Life skills, Communication skills and Social skills training followed by a 3-6 months on job-specific skills and 3-4 months of onsite apprenticeship at a potential employer. The program was launched in September 2021 and our first batch of 8 trainees came on board in November. Our efforts were validated when at the end of their level-2 training, 2 trainees were recruited as interns by EY at their Trivandrum campus. We will ensure the success of the recruitment by offering Catalyst training to their EY teammates and EY will in turn in curriculum development for the training of future batches.Pay Autention
Identifying children at risk for Autism early would make them benefit the most from early intervention. Though the Indian Academy of Paediatrics has recommended screening of all children for Autism at 18 and 24 months, it is not being regularly done by the health professionals due to lack of awareness and time in a busy paediatric clinic. Hence, there is a substantial delay in identifying cases of Autism and there is an urgent need to increase the awareness about Autism among health professionals, Anganwadi workers, and teachers to enable them to identify the early signs. The Pay Autention project launched in April 2022 by the Tata Power Community Development Trust in partnership with CADRRE does just that, through a web portal with videos curated by CADRRE on awareness about the early signs of Autism and about types of intervention required, and a toll-free phone helpline manned by CADRRE for first-level support to parents and caregivers.
The Artism Studio
Young adults with Autism, when provided with the right tools, guidance, resources and therapies, can become the best version of themselves and productive members of society. They need to be provided the right environment where they can work, learn, form friendships and live in their communities. in April 2022, CADRRE started The Artism Studio supported by Vishal Nevatia, Managing Partner, True North and K Nandakumar, Founder & CEO, SunTec. The Artism Studio aspires to discover and tap into the artistic potential of young adults with Autism, help them refine it and build upon it through training them on art and decoupage, laser cutting, screen printing and glass bottle upcycling, to begin with. The products crafted by them will be put on display at the Studio and the sale of these products will earn them royalty, the credit and acceptance they deserve. The Artism Studio also has a training kitchen where the trainees are taught culinary skills and to prepare snacks and serve them to guests at a training café. Through having co-working spaces and a space for conducting small events, The Artism Studio encourages visitors to come and interact with the trainees and become aware of neurodiversity.
International Autism Conference
The International Autism Conference organised by CADRRE on two occasions before COVID in 2018 and 2019 brought together the best minds and expertise from around the world with the objective of creating a pool of experts from diverse fields working in the area of autism, for knowledge sharing, exchanging ideas and promoting collaboration to provide better facilities for individuals on the spectrum. This pool of experts continue to collaborate with CADRRE, assisting us by conducting workshops and training sessions and for the purpose of research. The 2 conferences were the first of its kind to be held in South India. Spread across 3 days they saw more than 46 speakers from 11 countries. Great care was taken to ensure the conference was eco-friendly in every aspect – right from the décor to the conference kit and mementos given away to the speakers and delegates.
The way forward
In 2019, CADRRE had enlisted the services of KPMG as part of their CSR initiative, to draw up a 5-year project plan for CADRRE. The project that worked out to be 490 crores Rs envisions a 25-30 acre self-sustainable campus on the outskirts of Trivandrum city, offering services for Autism through the lifespan, from assessment and diagnosis, early intervention, primary and secondary schooling, higher education and capacity building of professionals to research and assisted living. We will work with conviction towards bringing this vision to fruition. We invite you to be a part of our journey.