Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
Autism awareness drive on Sunday
Tutor held for sexually assaulting 12-year-old boy
On Sunday, a group of autistic children and their parents will travel on an NMMT bus and spread awareness on autism.
For the first time, the Navi Mumbai wing of Forum For Autism has tied up with Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) to organise a unique activity to mark World Autism Awa r e n e s s D ay wh i c h is observed on April 2.
The bus ride organised on Sunday will start at 5pm from Vashi depot pass through Kopar Khairane depot, Airoli depot and conclude at CBD Belapur depot.
“We will halt at the depots and distribute pamphlets among the public and brief them about autism,” said Babita Raja, core member of Forum For Autism, Navi Mumbai.
The Navi Mumbai group of FFA functions from Sunshine School, a school which caters to autistic children in Vashi. “We organise awareness activities every year on April 2 in our school and involve as much participation from the public as possible. This year, we intend to do it on a larger scale,” said Paramita Majumder, principal of Sunshine School, Vashi.
Officials from the civic transport confirmed that they have other activities planned as well.
“We will display messages about autism on the LED screens in NMMT buses. Posters explaining early signs of autism will be display at all NMMT bus depots. A special training for all the drivers and conductors will be held to sensitise them about peo- ple with autism,” said Shirish Aradwad, transport manager of Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport.
A similar initiative will be taken by BEST in Mumbai on Saturday.
Shivaji Chowk at Vashi’s Sector 17 will be lit in up in blue on April 2.
“We have also tied up with two leading hotels in the city namely ITC Fortune and Four Points by Sheraton who will join us in creating awareness. For the guests, pamphlets about autism will be attached to the bills,” added Raja. Youth from Dombivli joined hands to make Dombivli railway station bright and colourful. They not only cleaned the station but also painted it with cartoons and with messages urging commuters to keep the premises clean. Dombivli had ranked 64th in a central government survey.