Autism Support in Bengaluru: Public Routes and Centres

Type “child development centre Bengaluru” into a search box and the results run for pages. StarzMeet alone lists 153 listings in Bengaluru — 45 filed under ABA therapy, 19 under speech therapy, 16 special education schools, nine diagnostic and assessment services and eight under occupational therapy. Some organisations appear more than once, so the count of distinct centres is lower. For a parent holding a fresh referral letter, that abundance is its own problem: the centres describe themselves in almost the same words, and a website will not tell you whether a programme meets the standard India’s own paediatric consensus statement sets out. This guide covers what a Bengaluru family can use through the public system first, the questions that separate one centre from another, and listings we checked one by one.

Try the public routes before you sign anything

Screening: Anganwadi centres, ASHAs and RBSK

The national child health programme, Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK), screens children from birth to 18 for 32 conditions, with “Behaviour disorder (Autism)” among those named under developmental delays. Screening happens at delivery points, through community screening “at the Anganwadi and Government schools” and on ASHA workers’ home visits; children who screen positive are referred to a District Early Intervention Centre for follow-up. The programme states: “All these services are provided free of cost, thus helping their families reduce out of pocket expenditure incurred on the treatment.”

For most Bengaluru families with a young child, the Anganwadi centre is the closest entry point: the district administration lists Integrated Child Development Services as covering children below six with nutrition, immunisation, health check-ups and referral services. If you do not know where your nearest service sits, the district’s health department page publishes the District Health Officer’s phone numbers and email.

The government hospital route

Bengaluru has a state-run tertiary children’s hospital. The Union Health Ministry’s rare diseases portal describes the Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health at Electronics City Phase 1 as “a premier autonomous institute under the aegis of Government of Karnataka” and “a tertiary 480 bedded Paediatric hospital”, with paediatric neurology and neuro-developmental departments among its listed specialties. A paediatrician’s referral is the usual way in; ask for one in writing, and ask both what the waiting time is now and what is charged — a government hospital route is usually low-cost rather than free.

Therapy through your child’s school

This is the route families most often miss. On World Autism Awareness Day, 2 April 2025, the Ministry of Education set out what Block Resource Centres provide under the centrally sponsored Samagra Shiksha scheme for children with special needs: occupational therapy, physiotherapy, “Speech and Communication Therapy”, which it calls “especially beneficial for children with autism”, and psychological and behavioural support. BRCs are staffed by “trained resource persons, special educators, and therapists” and also run screening camps, parent counselling and the supply of assistive devices. The Ministry “appeals to schools, educators, and parents to optimally utilise the services of BRCs for CwSN” — so ask your school or Block Education Office what the nearest one offers.

National Trust day care

Autism is one of the four conditions covered by the National Trust Act, which is why the Trust’s Disha scheme matters for younger children. A Disha centre runs day care for children aged 0–10 for “at least 4 hours a day (between 8 am to 6 pm)”, is open “at least 21 days a month”, and must have a special educator or early intervention therapist, a physiotherapist or occupational therapist, a counsellor and caregivers on the team. Seats are split on a 1:1 ratio between low-income (including BPL) families, whose places the Trust funds, and families above that band, who pay the centre directly; the Trust publishes a registered centres list, where you choose the scheme — Disha — from a dropdown. StarzMeet’s India autism guide explains the disability certificate, the UDID card and the Niramaya insurance scheme these programmes depend on.

Comparing Bengaluru’s centres: what to ask

With 45 ABA listings in one city, the useful question is not which centre is best but which ones answer specific questions without hedging. The Indian Academy of Pediatrics consensus statement on autism (Dalwai and colleagues, Indian Pediatrics, 2017) gives you the benchmark. It says a recommended programme should preferably have a “1:1 or 1:2 (child to therapist ratio), individualized for each child and with an interdisciplinary team that documents evaluation and intervention”, that “Each professional should have specialized expertise in working with children with autism”, and that “A minimum of 25 hours per week of intervention is critical for effectiveness”. It adds that the curriculum should emphasise “attention, imitation, communication, play and social interaction”, and that “Family involvement is a pre-requisite for the program’s effectiveness”. On school it is equally plain: “Inclusion is the goal of educational management”. (For transparency: one of the statement’s authors, Nandini Mundkur, is listed on the paper at the Centre for Child Development and Disabilities, Bangalore, which also appears among the listings below.)

Turn those into questions at the door. Who writes and reviews my child’s plan, and how often? What is the child-to-therapist ratio in the room, not on the brochure? How many hours a week are you recommending, and why that number? What do you document, and will I get a copy?

Credentials are checkable. Where a centre advertises ABA, ask who holds the behaviour-analytic credential and look the name up on the Behavior Analyst Certification Board’s certificant registry, searchable by name, location and certification type, which marks any certificant carrying published sanctions. For special educators, psychologists and therapists, ask for the Rehabilitation Council of India registration number. StarzMeet’s eight questions to ask an ABA provider work just as well at a speech or occupational therapy centre.

Verified providers in Bengaluru

Each listing below was checked to confirm it describes the service named, for children, in Bengaluru. Listing details come from providers and public information; confirm availability, fees and insurance directly with each provider.

Assessment and diagnosis

• Centre for Child Development And Disabilities — A team including a developmental paediatrician, child psychologists, physiotherapists, special educators and language therapists, with an early-intervention centre, Sangamitra, in Sahakarnagar.
• ASHA Academy for Severe Handicaps and Autism — Autism screening and psychoeducational and adaptive behaviour assessments, plus an early-intervention mother-and-child programme for ages 2–6.
• Mitra for Life — Community-based child development centres, developmental screening, therapy camps, home programmes and parent training across urban and rural Karnataka.

Developmental and paediatric clinics

• Specbrains child development center — Assessment and screening, early intervention, ABA, speech and occupational therapy and special education, delivered through individualised learning plans.
• Dimensions Centre for Child Development (Kalyanagar) — Therapy may begin with a 40-minute clinical intake and written recommendations, then weekly sessions with parent coaching and progress reviews.
• DYU Child Development Centre (CDC) — An interdisciplinary team covering developmental screening, assessment and diagnosis, with age-specific programmes for infants through children aged 12; the listing names learning, sensory and speech and language needs rather than autism specifically, so ask.

ABA therapy

• Avishi Center– ABA and Speech Therapy Bangalore — Programmes for ages 18 months to 12 years supervised by a BCBA- and QBA-certified clinical lead, with speech therapy by RCI-registered therapists.
• Be Change Center for Autism — One-to-one and group ABA for children aged 2 to 10, with functional behaviour assessment and parent coaching; parents may observe sessions.
• Hope Center for Autism — One-to-one ABA alongside occupational and oral placement therapy, plus shadow teacher support in mainstream classrooms.
• Early Autism Ventures — Centre-based and in-home ABA with plans developed by a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, plus occupational and speech therapy and a classroom simulation programme.

Speech and language therapy

• Cadabam’s Child Development Centre, J P Nagar — Assessment, diagnosis, therapy, special education and family support from birth to 18, with developmental paediatricians and speech-language pathologists on the team.
• Magpie Speech Therapy — Paediatric speech-language assessments and therapy, feeding and swallowing therapy and small-group programmes for ages 3 to 18, with observation in a naturalistic environment.
• Providence Pediatric Therapy Center — Speech and language therapy, social communication therapy and AAC support using speech-generating devices, sign language, communication boards or apps such as Avaz.
• SpeakUp Centre for Speech Therapy & Neuro Rehabilitation — Speech therapy alongside occupational, behavioural and sensory integration therapy, with behavioural sessions offered individually and in groups for needs including autism.

Occupational therapy

• SS Occupational Therapy – Centre for Child Development (SSOT-CCD) — Assessments and periodic reassessments, then individualised intervention plans for developmental, behavioural, sensory and functional needs, with parents involved in goal planning.
• Limitless Occupational Therapy — Occupational therapy for children aged 1.6 to 15, with consultation, standardised assessment, goal setting and follow-up; sessions run about 45 minutes.
• The Snowdrop Therapy Centre — A multidisciplinary centre where parents can observe sessions, listing occupational therapy, sensory integration, speech and language therapy and remedial education.

Special education schools

• Stepping Stones Center — ABA-based services, early intervention from age 1.5, inclusive education and NIOS training for children up to 14, at Marathahalli and Whitefield.
• Asha Kiran Special Needs School — Individualised education plans, preschool and academic education and vocational training, plus courses for parents and for mainstream and special educators.
• Anantha Academy For Special Education — Academic classes, functional learning and one-to-one remedial sessions, with NIOS training and a two-year pre-vocational transition course for students over 16.
• The Spastics Society of Karnataka — A non-governmental organisation offering diagnosis, intervention and rehabilitation alongside special education and vocational training.

Browse every listing in Bengaluru, including the adaptive swimming, adaptive sports and social skills programmes not covered here.

Questions Bengaluru parents ask

How many hours of therapy does my child actually need?

The IAP consensus statement says “A minimum of 25 hours per week of intervention is critical for effectiveness”. That is a benchmark for a full educational programme rather than a prescription for every child or every therapy, and the statement dates from 2017. Raise it with your child’s paediatrician and therapy team, and ask any centre quoting far less — or far more — how it reached its recommendation.

Is there anything we can start while we wait for an appointment?

Two things cost nothing. RBSK screening and follow-up are provided free of cost, so raise your concern with your Anganwadi worker or ASHA rather than waiting for a private slot. And if your child is in school, ask about the Block Resource Centre: the Ministry of Education lists occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and communication therapy and behavioural support among the services BRCs provide.

Do we need a disability certificate before therapy can start?

Not for private therapy, which you can arrange without one. You will need a certificate and a UDID card for scheme benefits, and the percentage recorded on it matters for several entitlements. StarzMeet’s India autism guide sets out the route and the schemes those documents unlock; applying in parallel with therapy saves months later.

A centre says it can fix my child. Is that realistic?

Autism is not something therapy sets out to cure, and a promise of recovery is not something the Indian paediatric consensus statement supports. Take any such claim — and any diet, detox or device offered as a treatment for autism — to your child’s paediatrician before you pay a deposit.

Sources

• National Health Mission – Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK)
• Bengaluru Urban district – Programmes for child development (ICDS)
• Bengaluru Urban district – Health Department
• MoHFW – Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Bengaluru
• Ministry of Education / PIB, 2 April 2025 – Block Resource Centres under Samagra Shiksha
• National Trust – Disha Scheme and its registered centres list
• Consensus Statement of the Indian Academy of Pediatrics on Evaluation and Management of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Indian Pediatrics 2017;54:385–93
• Behavior Analyst Certification Board – Certificant Registry

Banner: AI-generated illustration; the people shown are not real and are not the providers listed.