New Delhi, June 28: The Centre has for the first time issued standardised guidelines to grade the disability of autistic persons and issue them certificates that will widen their employment avenues and help them access benefits.

Autism is a lifelong neurological condition, typically appearing in the first three years of life and characterised by communication difficulties, social and behavioural challenges and repetitive behaviours.

It was earlier clubbed with mental retardation. As a result, autistic persons needed to obtain medical certificates that classified them as mentally retarded. Under the new guidelines, the evaluation will be carried out solely on autism-related parameters.

While autism has been treated as a disability under the National Trust Act, 1999, it is yet to be recognised by the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995. As a result, the evaluation of disabilities and the procedure for certification, notified by the government in 2001, did not include autism.

The absence of a standardised scale to measure the level of impairment had limited the scope of employment for those who had lower levels of autism. This stopped autistic persons from applying for disability certificates.

However, the latest version of the disability act, which is expected to be passed in the monsoon session of Parliament, seeks to include autism spectrum disorder as one of 19 recognised disabilities.

Recently, the ministry of disability affairs, in consultation with the health and family welfare ministry, notified the guidelines to assess the scale of autism.

"The Indian scale of assessment of autism has been developed, which provides the detailed assessment procedure and tools for assessing the extent of disability for persons with autism beyond six years of age. Certification of disability for persons with autism may be carried out by an autism certification medical board, duly constituted by the central government or the state government comprising of a clinical psychologist, a psychiatrist and a paediatrician or a general physician as the case may be," says the notification issued by the ministry of social justice and empowerment.

The notification asks state governments to constitute the boards immediately.

What these standards mean is that children with autism will now be graded based on their condition -- the parameters for which have now been decided on the specific nature of the disorder and not on general terms.

For instance, the guidelines state that while evaluating an autistic child aged below four, a set of steps need be followed. The evaluation will take into account parameters such as the child's reaction to cuddles and hugs from parents, whether he squirm or stiffens, makes eye contact and gestures in response to greetings, facial expressions while interacting with parents and the reaction when scolded.

A similar set pattern comes into play for those aged above four but with emphasis on interactions with other children, siblings and behaviour outside the home.

Those with more than 40 per cent disability will be eligible for disability certificates, which will be valid for five years if the disability is classified as temporary (sometimes behavioural patterns change and the condition may be established as non-autistic) and the person's age is below 18. For those with permanent disability, the validity can be shown as permanent in the certificate.

Activists said the guidelines would for the first time enable people with autism to apply for disability certificates on the basis of their particular disorder.

"While the draft was being discussed for a long time, I am glad that they have finalised and notified it. It will help many children who do not have disability certificates to get much-needed benefits," said Poonam Natarajan, the former chairperson of the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities.

Natarajan and other activists said that disability certificates were not just about employment. A person with such a certificate gets other benefits such as assistance for prosthetic aids and appliances, scholarships, free travel in state transport buses, free bus pass, loans for self-employment and assistance for higher education.