In a first of its kind in the country, a township for children suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is coming up in the outskirts of the city and will become operational by 2023.
The India Autism Center (IAC), a community-based initiative will have the capacity to accommodate 4,000 people as its residents, including the families of those having autism, managing trustee and IAC chairman Suresh Somani said on Saturday.
The centre would be located on a 53 acre plot at Sirakol in adjoining South 24 Parganas district and would be constructed at a cost of Rs 350 crore, Somani told PTI.
ASD is a complex neurodevelopment disorder which affects the behaviour of a person and the ability to process information. It affects a wide variety of areas like social interaction, social communication and speech.
“It is a genetic disorder and the level of awareness and knowledge is still low in the country”, he said.