Tamil Nadu: SRM Hospital gets Autism Centre of Excellence

Kattankulathur: A new facility for children with autism was commissioned by the SRM Institute of Science and Technology. The Autism Centre of Excellence (ACE) was recently inaugurated by Founder Chancellor of SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Dr. TR Paarivendhar, at SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre (SRM MCH&RC), Kattankulathur.

This center offers children with autism all necessary services under one roof. This center is also first-of-its-kind in an Indian medical college hospital. The center has been set up by SRM College of Occupational Therapy.

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SRMIST's Pro-Chancellor (Academics) Dr. P. Sathyanaryanan, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Medical & Health Sciences) Dr. Lt. Col. A. Ravikumar, Dean (Medical) Dr. A. Sundaram, Dean (College of Occupational Therapy) Dr. U. Ganapathy Sankar were also present on the launch event, reports the Free Press Journal.

The mission of this center is to provide all the essential services, such as occupational therapy, speech therapy, special education, and clinical psychology, in one place with a well-trained professional strong emphasis on integrating them into regular classrooms and enabling them to live independently in the community.

The Hindu reports that the institute has also set up a sensory garden as part of the therapy for children. According to officials, this has benefitted nearly 5000 autistic children so far.

Presently, there are around 160 children who are receiving therapy at the institute. 

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported a story where the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati (IITG) had set up a medical research center to cater to the needs of rural India with a focus on healthcare delivery to the last-mile population. The multidisciplinary initiative, in line with the Centre's National Education Policy, 2020, is a single umbrella where professors, researchers, entrepreneurs, doctors, and students from multiple departments will work together for research and innovation in the domain of healthcare innovation, said the official release issued by the institute.  

Also Read:Assam: IIT Guwahati establishes Centre of Excellence for healthcare delivery among Rural Communities