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Coastal Karnataka Gets its First Autism and Learning Disability Centre in Manipal

Manipal: An Autism and Learning Disability Centre will be inaugurated by Pramod Madhwaraj, Karnataka State Minister for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports at a function here in Manipal University on October 10, 2017. The Centre is a collaborative venture of Asare and School of Allied Health Sciences and will be situated on Asare’s campus. Dr H.S.Ballal, Pro Chancellor, Manipal University will preside.

Briefing the media on the new Centre, Dr Rajasekhar, Dean SOAHS said that the Centre will be the first one of its kind in the coastal region and will be beneficial for those with the disability in theregion. “Now, they need not go to distance places for treatment. The Centre will have all facilities to enable a person suffering from the disability to recover,” he said.

He noted, “There is no known cure, but research indicated that early intervention can make a significant impact in the lives of children and their families. Udupi district has a population of 103,160 children under the age of 6 years as per the census of 2011. Apart from a few special schools, there are no centres that focuses on early intervention and a multi-disciplinary team approach in this region”.

As professionals in clinical psychology, speech language pathologist and audiologist; occupational therapist and special educator are needed to effectively deal with the needs of children with the disability, School of Allied Health Sciences is best suited for the job.

“While Asare will provide space and all required infrastructure facilities to set up and operate the Centre including necessary financial support, SOAHS will provide clinical services and manage all patient care activities of the Centre. And will also support the Centre with various training programmes in the areas of autism and learning disabilities,” Dr Rajasekhar said.