Divi's Foundation for Gifted Children

Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) refers to a group of developmental challenges impacting a child’s ability to communicate or interact socially. Autism Society of America (ASA) defines autism as a complex development disability that starts showing signs in the first three years of life.

How has autism prevalence changed over time?

As per Jessica Wright’s article in Scientific American 2017 autism prevalence has increased in recent years. In 2017 it was “-1 in 68-is up 30 percent from the 1 in 88 rate reported in 2008, and more than double the 1 in 150 rate in 2000. In fact, the trend has been steeply upward since the early 1990s, not only in the U.S. but globally, says Maureen Durkin, who heads the network site in Wisconsin.”  Today it is 1 in 59. More than 2 million children in India have been reported to be under the spectrum. There could be many more who could be undiagnosed at this point in time due to lack of awareness in the society at large. 

Divi’s Foundation for Gifted Children was founded in 2015 with the focus of improving the awareness, the quality of assessment and care provided in the field of Autism in India. We believe that in our society we need to be more empathetic than sympathetic towards children on the spectrum. We work towards a child’s holistic development and inclusiveness in all of aspects of their life.