News

Volume 2 Issue 14 - July 15, 2004

Action For Autism lays foundation stone

Action For Autism laid the foundation stone for its National Centre at a 1,400 square metre plot in Jasola, situated close to Apollo hospital, in Delhi. Speaking at the occasion, Ms Dikshit pledged the support of the Government, in the light of the recent Budget speech by Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram.

The Finance Minister had announced that the UPA government would extend the benefit of Section 80DD and Section 80U to persons with autism, cerebral palsy and multiple disabilities.

The National Centre would address the needs of the growing number of children diagnosed with autism. It is estimated that two million people in India are autistic. Many cases however remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed resulting in lack of training and proper education for this class of people. The Centre aspires to cover all aspects of training, research, education, rehabilitation and advocacy to meet the overwhelming demand in the country