WB govt launches autism screening initiative, identifies 176 confirmed cases

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], August 2 : The Department of Women and Child Development and Social Welfare under the West Bengal Government has started an initiative to determine the real status of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in children in the state.
During a question and answer session with the department's Minister in Charge, Dr. Shashi Panja, at the assembly on Friday, it was revealed that to date, 176 children were confirmed to have ASD out of 899 suspected cases who attended the first test for ASD at district hospitals or hospitals at medical colleges.
Panja said that 476 children were diagnosed with other disabilities, and 247 were non-disabled.
She mentioned that this ASD survey was conducted by the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and tested approximately 49 lakh children under the age of 18 months to 6 years.
An Expert Committee with four esteemed psychiatrists and psychologists, namely Dr. Praveen Kumar Jakati, HOD, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Institute of Neuroscience; Dr. J.R. Ram, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, Apollo Hospitals and founder Mental Health Foundation; Dr. Mallika Bannerjee, Psychologist and Director of Pradip Centre for Autism Management; and Dr. Amitava Das, Psychiatrist, Lumbini Park Mental Hospital, developed a primary screening questionnaire for ASD. This questionnaire comprises 20 questions based on three domains: communication, socialization, and behaviour, with a cutoff score of four, Panja said.
She further stated that children scoring more than four were suspected of having ASD and were sent for further clinical confirmation. The efficacy of this screening questionnaire was tested in some ICDS projects and later validated by the experts, confirming its effectiveness. Thereafter, state and district-level trainings were conducted.
Anganwadi workers were trained on the process, and a survey of over 49 lakh children in the age group of 18 months to 6 years had already been conducted using the said questionnaire.
From the survey, it was found that a total of 5,840 children are suspected of having ASD. The records of these children were collected and documented in the Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) office.
Following the finalization of the follow-up protocol by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, a schedule will be drawn up. According to the schedule, these children will be brought to the designated district hospitals or medical college hospitals every Thursday for diagnostic confirmation of ASD.
The checkup will take place in the Non-Communicable Diseases OPD of the said hospitals from 12 noon onwards.
A referral card, duly filled out by the psychiatrist or clinical psychologist for the confirmed cases of ASD, will be given to the caregivers of the children confirmed with ASD.
The Anganwadi Workers and ASHA/Health Functionaries are also following up on the cases for the next checkup treatment dates as per the written advice on the referral card.
The survey will be conducted every year in November for children in the age group of 18 months to 6 years. The initiative was launched by the Department this year on World Autism Day on April 2 to identify probable incidences of ASD in children between the age groups of 18 months and 6 years.