Stephen Shore addresses a seminar organised by PACTAI at Saturday Club on August 24-25. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha

Debopam Banerjee, a student of Akshar, was all smiles when called on stage to sing. Although an autistic child, he showed no hesitation in facing the large audience of students, teachers, parents and experts at Saturday Club at a conference organised by Parent Circle Time Autism Identified (PACTAI) on August 24 and 25.

PACTAI, a non-government organisation formed by parents and professionals to help kids with special needs and to create awareness about autism, had invited Dr Stephen M. Shore, member of Autism Society of America, to conduct sessions on the disorder.

Said Dr Nikhil Ranjan Banerjea, the vice-chancellor of Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, who was present on Day I: “Planned intervention and training can help integrate an autistic child into the mainstream.”

Sounding a wake-up call to parents, autism consultant Krishna Roy, president of PACTAI, said: “It’s time parents get actively involved in the development of autistic kids. Don’t curse your fate if you have a special child. Form a human chain and help him/her be empowered.”

On his first visit to Calcutta, Shore, though speaking on serious issues, peppered his words with witty remarks. “Autism is like a traffic jam in the brain, much like the ones you encounter on Calcutta roads,” he quipped. Drawing from day-to-day problems, like autistic children’s dislike for haircuts, he offered solutions to help bewildered parents understand their kids better. Being autistic himself, he offered insights into such a child’s mind. “Some are hypersensitive while some do not react at all,” he explained. He confessed how he used to shove an alarm clock under the pillow because he could not stand the sound. From charting out suitable jobs to ways of making friends and leading a normal life, Shore dealt with a variety of issues.

The two-day conference also saw teachers from mainstream schools, including Modern High, La Martiniere for Boys, La Martiniere for Girls, Lakshmipat Singhania Academy and The Heritage, joining in to learn more about Autism Spectrum Disorder.

“There are many borderline cases in mainstream schools too. I now know how to sensitise students towards a special child. A little help from classmates can go a long way in helping a special child perform better,” said Anuradha Sharma, a teacher at LMB. Such initiatives are proving useful for people like Debashis Sarkar, an engineer and member of PACTAI whose special child studies in Class IV in Akshar. “The conferences are a learning experience for parents like us. Not all autistic children can be as successful as Dr Shore, but we should at least try to make them independent,” he said.

On August 27, Shore held a workshop on music therapy for Akshar students, showing how music could be used as a teaching tool. “The response to PACTAI has been overwhelming. I receive queries from other states too. We plan to integrate the methods of Dr Shore in training autistic children,” signed off Roy.