The Government of India will soon roll out an Indian Scale for Assessment of Autism (ISAA), commissioned by the National Institute for the Mentally Handicapped (NIMH). The Indian scale, which will be used while issuing disability certificates for autistic children, will for the first time use tools better suited to Indian culture as opposed to the present tests that have mostly Western parameters.

“Autism is a problem of social and emotional interaction. The CARS tests are accepted worldwide, but the Ministry of Health had asked for an Indian tool because the present tool differs culturally. The ISAA is standardised and will hopefully be out after elections,” said National Trust chairperson Poonam Natarajan. “The tool needs to be notified. There was a technical problem as autism was not enumerated in the Disabilities Act, but it is now rectified.”

“ISAA is not a diagnostic tool. However, it will help a great deal in identification and rating the severity of autism,” said Dr Y P Mukesh, assistant professor (psychiatry) at NIMHANS, and an expert in child and adolescent psychiatry services.

Studies place the occurrence of autism in India at approximately one in 500. He said there are only two standardised diagnostic tools used internationally, but both are yet to be introduced in India.

The National Trust under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India, and set up under the National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act had asked the NIMH to design the India-specific scale. This scale has 40 statements, divided under six domains - social relationship and reciprocity; emotional responsiveness; speech, language and communication; behaviour patterns; sensory aspects and cognitive component. The test takes about 15 to 20 minutes to assess.

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