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In a short span of
time SOPAN has crossed many milestones. It has established itself
as a well-known parents association in India. The organization
has several achievements to its credit.
:: Services for People with
ASD
Samarpan Centre for Autism Spectrum Disorders was started
at Vile Parle, Mumbai, in the first year of SOPANs inception.
Samarpan serves around 35 children and adolescents with ASD. It
offers a variety of services ranging from multidisciplinery assessment,
early intervention, remediation, pre-vocational training, along
with speech & language therapy, sensory integration therapy
and adaptive physical education.
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Parent Empowerment Programs
SOPAN has made concerted efforts to enable and empower parents.
Besides holding parents training programs periodically, SOPAN
has Parent Enrichment Program, an ongoing program offered at Samarpan
Centre. The objective is to improve the involvement of parents
as members of the multidisciplinery team. Enrolled parents are
taught the techniques required to develop skill behaviors and
effectively manage challenging behaviors in their children. Parents
are encouraged to actively participate in autism advocacy and
pressure groups.
::
Recognition
a) At State Level
- SOPAN is a well-known parents association for ASD
- SOPAN and Samarpan have established linkages with
i) National Institute for Mentally Handicapped (WRC)m Mumbai
ii) SNDT Womens University, Mumbai
iii) Forum for Autism
- Dr. Rubina Lal, President, has conducted training programs
on ASD in different parts of Maharashtra
b)
At National Level
- Samarpan team was invited by the National Institute for Mentally
Handicapped,
Secunderabad, to participate in a national meeting of experts
on ASD
- Dr. Rubina Lal is the member of Expert Committee for Autism,
set up by The Rehabilitation Council of India, and the National
Trust, Govt. of India
- Dr. Lal served as Controller of Examination for the RCI Diploma
in Special Education (ASD),
run by Spastics Society of Karnataka
- A team of experts from the RCI has visited Samarpan as a possible
centre for starting a
teacher training course
- Professionals and parents from different parts of India have
visited Samarpan
c)
At International Level
- Prof. R.L. Simpson, Dept. of Special Education, University
of Kansas, USA has accepted SOPANs invitation to conduct
training programs for parents and professionals.
- Dr. Lal has given a number of lectures to the undergraduate
and graduate students of Dept. of Special Education, Kansas
State University, USA
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