Upfront

Monthly Sum of Rs 500 to be Provided to Autistic Patients in TN

The Government of Tamil Nadu has recently announced that a monthly monetary assistance of Rs 500 will be provided to the autistic patients in Tamil Nadu. The scheme was launched on January 4, 2008.

Inaugurating a two-day open house to create awareness about autism and the remedial opportunities available, Dr Poongothai Aladi Aruna, Minister for Social Welfare, Tamil Nadu, stated that this assistance will be available to all autistic patients who produce a medical certificate indicating a quotient of less than 75. She assured that no other elaborate procedure would be involved in extending this assistance.

Lauding the efforts of NGO-We Challenge Autism Now (We CAN) in rendering service to this problem which afflicts children all through their life, Dr Poongothai announced that the Government will extend all help in setting up more voluntary organisations to help autistic people across the rest of the state.

Brand ambassador actor Surya stated that, until a year ago, he too had very little knowledge about autism or its debilitating effects on children. He recounted that in one of his shooting schedules, he was distressed to see an elderly lady labouring to the needs of her adult son, afflicted with autism. What made this entire episode distressing was that the old lady neither knew what the problem of her son was nor that its effects could be mitigated. He declared that he and his wife Jyothika would continue their association with WE CAN for all times.

Earlier, Gita Srikanth, one of the founders of WE CAN, welcomed the audience and declared that an informal survey conducted in elitist environments indicated an abysmal 10 per cent level of awareness about autism.

EH News Bureau