OUR HISTORY AND MILESTONES OF AUTISM SOCIETY WEST BENGAL (ASWB)

Autism Society West Bengal (ASWB) was registered as a society on 30th December 2002. Initially ASWB started as a parent support group with an evening play group .Indrani Basu along other mothers conducted structured play, for a group of children with Autism. The children involved in the play group were mostly children of the core members of ASWB. Apart from the play group Indrani conducted 1:1 sessions with her younger son and other children of the members.

Soon other families came forward with a request for their child to join the play group, So the playgroup included more and more children.

After a while it was becoming evident that the number of children, who were coming to the play group needed more than play. They needed communication based intervention on a 1:1 session’s format. As many of the children as possible, were accommodated in the 1:1 sessions. However with the lack of trained people it was becoming difficult to accommodate all those who came. Therefore in June 2003, Autism Society West Bengal started DIKSHAN .

Indrani Basu graduated majoring in education and completed her BEd from London University. While working at a mainstream school in India her two sons were diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. After the diagnosis, she trained as a special educator specializing in Autism.

In Kolkata she founded Autism Society West Bengal. The organization runs a school – Dikshan – which uses Verbal Behavior Analysis and Structure as a mode of teaching and management. She has a special interest in Asperger Syndrome since her elder son, Amitava, has Asperger syndrome.

She is a resource person for a number of other organizations in India and she also conducts workshops for various organizations in and outside Kolkata.

Indrani is one of the 2009 award winners for creativity and innovation in special education from Heartspring (Kansas, U.S.A)