© Nirmaan

Autism BeAware

While recent studies quantifies the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder in India, pegging almost 1 in 100 children under age 10 has autism, awareness & acceptance of neuro-diversity in the country still has a long way to go as compared to our western counterparts. If the infrastructural challenges in terms of lack of proper autism-friendly institutes, therapy centres or co-curricular support was not enough, the stigma, ostracization & bullying associated with neurodevelopmental disorders make the journey even more harrowing for autistic individuals & their family members.


As part of our Health & Social Sensitization initiatives, Nirmaan has been vocal about the equal rights and treatment of Autistic individuals in the allistic world. The 'Autism BeAware’ campaign launched in 2018 by Nirmaan has been actively promoting the cause of Autism awareness , acceptance & inclusion through diverse offline & online activities, trying to fill in the gap by triggering a conversation about ASD. With an aim to establish the fact that ASD is neither a disease nor a handicap towards leading a successful life, but just a different ability & perspective, Nirmaan has been conducting mass outreach programs via Art Exhibition, Support March, talkshows, newspaper advertisements & year long digital campaigns. Marking the World Autism Awareness Day, we had organised the first ever Autism Walk in the city on 2nd April 2018 with autistic individuals & their parent & Artism BeAware, an art exhibition featuring artworks of autistic painters across the globe in 2021 & a live art creation activity with autistic individuals from Kolkata based prominent Autism institutes in 2022, with the message of treating autism & autistic people with dignity & equality. All our campaigns in past 5 years have been geared to find a positive & lasting resonance among people to change their outlook to Autistic people.