Aawam’s programmes aim to empower parents with children on the autism spectrum

Aawam is a parent support group started by Monisha Acharya Padhi and her husband Nayan Kumar to empower parents who have children with autism. They hold workshops and seminars in Hyderabad to ensure that they reach out to as many parents as possible.

When Monisha Acharya Padhi’s son Shaan was diagnosed with autism, she was looking out for ways to empower him. That is when she realised that there were few options in her hometown Hyderabad to help Shaan. That is how she decided to start Autism Awareness with Autism Moms (AAWAM) with the support of her husband Nayan Kumar. A parent support group with over hundred members, Aawam aims to reach out to both parents and children who are under the autism spectrum disorder.

Aawam was started a few months back, and Monisha hopes to reach out to as many parents as possible. The main focus is to help them become self-reliant and independent on taking care of their children instead of relying fully on therapy centres or other organisations. They hold workshops and seminars for parents and has been getting great response till date.

Most parents who have a child with autism wants to do home schooling for their kids. We hope to focus on academics and vocational training to help children. Even though there are many inclusive schools, they do not really reach out to children who are under the spectrum. So we plan to start a school very soon-Monisha Acharya Padhi, Founder, Autism Awareness with Autism Moms

Aawam aims to spread their message though social media where they are very active. They have many projects in the pipe line and hope to spread their work across India. “We are glad that we can reach out to many parents who need our help. Apart from our school, we also want to start a development centre for children with autism. We hope that all this would happen soon”, says Monisha. ‘

According to the founders, parents must be part of such groups so that they are empowered and can help their children who are under autism spectrum. “Our son was diagnosed when he was hardly three years old and that is when we realised that there are no centres for children with autism in Hyderabad. People were in fact misguiding us purely for money. This triggered us to start something. We had to gather courage to educate parents and empower them because parents are the ultimate caregivers”, says Nayan Kumar.

Through their many workshops, Aawam aims to focus on therapies including arts and drama. Founders hope that parents will understand the need to work with their kids to empower them.

You can contact Aawam at +91 83097-97942.