This centre in Bengaluru supports children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

During a visit to the Spastic Society of Karnataka in 2013, Amritha Krishnamoorthy met children with autism for the first time. She says this experience, which she calls “eye-opening”, pushed her to start Stepping Stones Centre.

Based in Bengaluru, the organisation supports children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in their overall development and eventual integration into the education system.

“Though I was so well educated, my awareness and knowledge about child developmental milestones was low. We become a parent the day we deliver a child but it's important to be well prepared and educated before planning for a child,” she adds.

Krishnamoorthy says the visit showed her the importance of understanding the developmental milestones of children, especially those under six years of age.

According to a 2021 study published in the Indian Journal of Pediatrics, the estimated prevalence of Autism in India is around 1 in 68 children. As per WHO, it is estimated that worldwide about 1 in 100 children have autism.

“Recognising a child’s developmental milestones is critical in identifying the delays in an early stage and thus improving early intervention, which can be crucial in the development process,” she believes.

Empower children with special needs

Krishnamoorthy explains that some of the early signs of autism include–delayed language skills, delayed movement skills, delayed cognitive or learning skills, hyperactive, impulsive, and/or inattentive behaviour and more.

“The pivotal "thousand days" mark the golden period of brain development in children, constituting 80% of their cognitive growth. It's during this crucial phase that early identification and support become imperative,” she adds.

Early intervention can be as early as 1.5 years.

She says that Stepping Stones follows an Early Intervention Programme and a three-part Inclusive Education Programme.

In the initial assessment process, the child's physical, cognitive, language, behavioural, and social development milestones are evaluated to determine the child’s requirements.

After this, a customised plan is developed for the child. In this phase, the experts set targets to be achieved in each of the aforementioned areas.

She explains that the organisation has speech therapists who help with speech-related issues, occupation therapists for physical development and behaviour therapists who help in skill acquisition and behaviour reduction—to decrease the occurrence of maladaptive behaviours in the child.

Once the plan is shared with the parents, the therapist begins working with each child.

Krishnamoorthy explains that the centre has a team of 72 experts, including analysts who devise the development plans and therapists, who implement it. These analysts also manually record data about the growth of the child in different areas and manoeuvre the plan accordingly.

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Intervention

Shreejoyee Ray, a resident of Bengaluru noticed that her child wasn’t reaching age-related milestones. Soon, he was diagnosed with ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder) and was on the spectrum of autism.

Ray says discovering Stepping Stones solved the challenge of finding different therapists. “The best part about the centre is that it had an integrated multidisciplinary program,” she adds.

She explains that the centre utilises Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) which involves breaking down each behaviour of the child and learning about its cause and consequence.

“For instance, my child used to push things (behaviour) as he had some sensory issues (antecedent). This meant that he had to be provided occupational therapy as he was seeking the sensory inputs,” she explains.

Krishnamoorthy adds parents also need to be trained to deal with children with special needs.

Hence, the centre simultaneously runs a six-week parent’s programme wherein the parents are taught to constructively play with the child, how they can help the child in improving their listener response, and more.

Ray says the centre taught her the basics of ABA, which helped her understand her child’s needs.

According to Krishnamoorthy, once the child seems fit enough, the centre tries to integrate the child into the mainstream education system. But she also notes that it's not always possible for every child to join mainstream school.

Stepping Stones has so far collaborated with four schools in Bengaluru. It has set up a resource room consisting of behaviour therapist, speech therapist and occupational therapist in these schools to provide support to the child.

The child attends certain subject classes based on their aptitude. Additionally, they have sessions with the experts focussing on their specific goals in the areas of language, social, speech, academics and behaviour.

Stepping Stones also conducts group activities such as yoga, dance and zumba, sports, art and craft, etc.

After undergoing a school assessment test Ray’s son joined the Upper KG class in one of the partnered schools. Now he is in Grade 3.

Currently, the centre is working with 48 children and has so far helped around 1200 children with autism.

“The idea to integrate these children into mainstream school is to primarily focus on a child’s social development,” Krishnamoorthy explains.

The centre charges Rs 4 lakhs a year for the inclusion programme. However, if children are coming only for therapy, the centre charges Rs 950 per class.

She acknowledges that the cost high is because of the teacher-student ratio which is either 1:1 or 1:2 and due to specialised training.

“Cost can be reduced only when the ratios are managed better or through group sessions and hence we are planning on that front,” she adds.

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The begining

Krishnamoorthy, who is from Madurai, says her school teachers sparked her lifelong interest in education.

After she completed her Bachelor's in Engineering from Mepco Schlenk in 2009 with a Gold Medal and secured 12th rank in the state, she joined iNautix Technologies, Chennai as an Application Developer.

A few years later, she shifted to Bengaluru, where she decided to revisit her passion for education but was not sure about where to start. The visit to Spastic gave her a mission for life.

However, her journey has not been without challenges.

She explains that her biggest challenge has been to find schools that can collaborate with the centre. She believes that there are a handful of schools that can accommodate children with special needs.

“Many schools do not have the curriculum, infrastructure, and mainly no thought leadership to make schools conducive for such students,” she says.

“We talk about workplace sensitisation and bringing inclusion in the world but all this has to start from the school,” Krishnamoorthy adds.