This group from Bengaluru gives autistic children much-needed aid

BENGALURU: It was a sunny day at the Autism Fest on April 2 and the 100-odd attendees were thankful for the shade of the large trees lining both sides of the road in HSR Layout.Specially-abled children painted, played and laughed on the open street. Parents sat on the pavement discussing their wards and watching them have fun. The first-of-its kind event was organised by Juhi Ramani and her team from ISupport Foundation recently .

“We did this so that autistic children get a taste of what it is to spend a day outside,“ says the 26-year-old Ramani, a project manager at Hewlett Packard.

Ramani and her sister originally set up ISF in Lucknow, motivated by their family's struggle to bring up their autistic younger brother Shivam in their hometown Rae Bareily . “Nobody should miss out on life just because they are autistic,“ she believes.

Work brought Ramani to Bengaluru and she felt left out from her family circle. After a brief period of volunteering with CRY, she decided to launch a Bengaluru chapter of ISF. Her first project was to create awareness about child abuse. With no friends in the city, she turned to Facebook for support. In just a few days, she managed to get 120 volunteers.



ISF Bengaluru is completely volunteer-driven and now has a core team of over 50 professionals who dedicate their weekends to the group's activities, which include teaching English, computer skills and basic program ming to children in government schools and special schools.

The team, mostly IT professionals, plans its activities over WhatsApp. “Bengaluru has so many people who are willing to give their time and commitment for social causes,“ Ramani says.

The team has developed a mobile application to provide all the required information and assistance for parents of autistic children. ISF is building a school in Electronic City for the autistic and it will start functioning in June.

“The next goal is to create employment for autistic adults,“ says Ramani, whose long-term dream is to set up a restaurant run by the differently-abled.

Alistair D'Monte, a community manager at social funding platform Milaap, said ISF was among the most successful fundraisers on the platform. He said, “Ramani's devotion to the cause is passed on to the team. They are highly motivated and work in a structured manner.“