Patna: Raising a child with autism is a constant challenge for parents and who knows it better than Hajipur resident Sujeet Kumar.

Being father of 14-year-old autistic son Sahil Navneet, Sujeet has seen times when Sahil would kick, hit and throw things unexpectedly.

Thanks to stem-cell therapy, which has helped reduce the hyperactivity in Sahil. Now, Sahil has become calmer and he follows instructions given to him. His attention span and ability to sit at one place has also improved.

Mumbai-based NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute, which provided stem-cell therapy to Sahil in October 2016, is set to organise a free camp by March-end to facilitate patients with neurological disorders, including autism, cerebral palsy among others who cannot travel to Mumbai for consultation purpose.

"In autism, we have found that certain areas of the brain are functioning less that other parts. We have done a lot of research on this. Because of less-functional brain parts, the person has problems in social interactions, understanding, learning, speech and other motor functions are affected and because of this other problems such as hyperactivity set in," said Nandini Gokulchandran, the deputy director of NeuroGen Brain and Spine Institute, while addressing a press conference here on Thursday.

Gokulchandran had brought Sahil and his father Sujeet at the meet to show the affects of stem-cell therapy on autistic patients. "Sahil has become calmer. Earlier, he was hyperactive. He would throw things on people and do other things but now he follows our instructions. Earlier, he would forget everything, but now he is able to recognise things and retain memory," said Sujeet.