‘‘But after some months, he stopped talking. He wouldn’t make eye-contact, avoid interacting with other children and throw tantrums frequently. That’s when we realised there was something missing,’’ Singh recollects. A visit to a paediatrician when the child was two years and five months old revealed he was autistic.

‘‘Though no epidemiological studies have been conducted in India, detection of cases of autism is on the rise — around one in 250 cases as against an earlier rate of one in 10,000,’’ says Bangalore-based Dr Pratibha Karanth, former professor of speech and language pathology at the All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore. ‘‘Earlier, only cases of severe autism would receive attention. Now, even mild forms are being noticed,’’ Dr Karanth adds.

Once her son was diagnosed as autistic, Singh’s life began revolving around his speech therapy sessions, sensory integration classes and play-school. ‘‘His condition is improving. But it involves a lot of running around. My family is supportive but it is taxing,’’ Singh says.

There may be a solution for parents like her. In 2000, Dr Karanth devised the Communication DEALL programme which aims at providing ‘‘integrated intervention’’ to autistic kids below five years. The programme is currently being implemented in Bangalore and Mangalore and will begin its Mumbai chapter in March.

DEALL or Developmental Eclectic Approach to Language Learning aims at providing training to pre-school children through a team of speech-language pathologists, therapists and pre-school teachers.

‘‘The programme offers the necessary therapy and training under a single roof. The objective is to try and get the child integrated into regular school,‘‘ Dr Karanth explains. The duration of the programme is one year. ‘‘If we think that the child needs some more time, we continue the programme for longer,’’ Nair says, adding that the current success rate of the programme is approximately 40 per cent.

Singh is considering the programme for her son who is now three.

‘‘It will save me the running around. Besides, three hours of rigorous training from qualified professionals is what attracted me to it,’’ she says.