Build a Group home for 200 Indians with Autism

 Relief Work 

AFA partnered with a group of wonderful people to start Project Delhi to support the most marginalised people with disabilities. With support from members and friends of AFA we reached out with dry rations and medicines impacting 3100 people who were locked in their homes without resources. In another initiative AFA provided cooked meals to migrant labourers  with support of amazing friends, supporters and volunteers. 

Web Learnings 

The lockdown provided us the opportunity of putting into action our long-cherished plans for online trainings. We are delighted to share that we are successfully running multiple web trainings for participants across India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and the Maldives. The professional training programs (Diploma and Bachelor degrees) are also running online. Multiple AFA team members have served as invited speakers and panellists for other disability and rights organisations. 

Services Online 

Within days of the lockdown, realising that we were in it for the long period, the team put their creativity and energy into setting up and running our services virtually: Open Door Special School, Aadhaar Vocational Centre, Parent Child Training Program, Occupational, Sensory, Speech and Language Therapy, Educational Intervention, as well as Counselling.  

Thank you!! 

We began this journey  at Ananda in 2016 and our motto has always been to give them a happy and productive life. Adults are now well settled and enjoy their stay at Ananda 

 Residents celebrated Holi (festival of colours) at Ananda premises. Our young adults loved and enjoyed playing with the dry colours and they really enjoyed being painted with bright colours. After playing with colours they had  fun time and sang together bollywood numbers .They all enjoyed their snacks after playing with the  colours. Special food on a special day is something that all our residents really look forward. 

 Other activities which are part of their routine are taking care of the kitchen garden and flower plants. Young men enjoy watering in fruits, vegetables and flower plants. They plough the soil with a trowel, clear weeds, pluck fruits and vegetables, mow the lawn, etc.

 We have been able to run this project because you have walked with us and supported us generously. We are having plans to increase programs which are essential for the development of persons with autism and we will be able to do so with your support only.

Action for Autism(AFA) is Twenty Five!!

Each one of you has contributed to the success of AFA!

Here we bring to you the highlights of the celebrations that has marked twenty five years of our journey.We are exited to share some of the events that have been celebrated throughout the year.

Highlights 2019

Big Bazar's Quiet Hour- Since April 2019 Big Bazar of Future Group  organises inclusive and conducive shopping for individuals on the spectrum.AFA has been instrumental in connecting  Big Bazar  with various autism organisations around India.

Success at Work Place-We would like to congratulate AM for completing five years with Lemon Tree Hotel.Congratulations to AA for being the proud bread winner of his family.

Gathered Leaves-We organised a staging of a play directed by the prominent theatre personality Faisal Alkazi of Ruchika theatre.Everyone enjoyed the dynamics that play in a family with the father and son on the spectrum.

Views from Planet Autism- 47 artists from India and south east asia showcased and earned from their art works at the nineth annual exebition by the people on sepectrum.

Update on Advocacy-AFA's team participated in national and international research and advocacy events and brain stormings.These included WHO's technical meeting,Geneva,INSAR annual meet,Canada,APAC Singapore and numerous meetings of the DePWD, NCERT amongst others.

Trainings at AFA-AFA trained over 1000 individuals by workshops in India and south east asia.In last September we received training from  Dr Brenda Smith Myles, an autism expert from the US.

Get ...Set... Go... AFA's Annual Sports Meet was organised for the children, adolescents and adults of AFA.

Coming back to Ananda, we are happy to share that the residents have found their home, a space where individuals with autism live and work with dignity and respect.Some lovely photos are attached here.

Thank you so much for your valuable contributions!

We wish you a happy and prosperous 2020!

Our Japanese volunteer compiled the wonderful works executed by our residents into an e-book and later held a conference where she presented her experience in using the art for emotional expression with persons with autism.

We welcomed two new residents who joined the assisted living program. One of them has very high support needs especially requiring physical support with all activities of daily living. The other resident who has a lot of great skills but also marked by the need to complete sets of actions, or verbal phrases repeatedly, and not able to proceed till he was done.  As a result, the execution of each of his daily living skills requires six or seven times the length of time actually required. What added to the challenge is that if any attempt were made to support him hand-on-hand through the task, he had the compulsion to conduct the same physical action back on the prompter.

All his activities through the day would get stuck in a loop. Any effort to break the loop ended up with him wanting to physically control the other person for an inordinate length of time. With patient and well thought out strategies the young person is now able to finish his tasks in half the earlier time and his verbal, as well as physical stims, have both come down.

We are delighted that both have settled down and are happy members of our expanding family.

In the last quarter, our residents at Ananda have shown a lot of progress in the process of their learning. Some high support need residents were having eating challenges. Our educators worked on it and through right interventions, they are now sitting on the dining table with fellow residents and educators and eating independently. Another resident who used to have occasional toilet accidents are now able to regulate him.

All residents have also learnt to follow their schedules and happily working in the vocational training unit which is inside the campus.

We are glad to share that we have a Japanese volunteer who is helping adults with the art classes. Now our adults are able to express themselves through art…