By Thomas Scaria

Bengaluru, Jan 26, 2026: The third global convention on autism ended in Bengaluru, southern India, on January 25 with a call to enhance facilities and services as the number of children with autism has shown steady increase over the years.

The organizers of the weeklong convention, hosted by St John’s Medical College, observed that one in 100 people globally have autism, and they require professional help and lot of social empathy.

The college, owned by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, has announced setting up an exclusive wing on treatment and rehabilitation of autism at its campus shortly.

Around 1,000 delegates from several countries attended the scientific conference where 155 speakers presented their papers and contributed to various aspects of managing autism at homes and communities.

Several parents and social workers shared their experience and contributions to the rehabilitation of people living with autism, looking at all aspects for a better scope of life for the growing number of autistic people.

One of them was Alina Alam, who started “Mitti Café” at the age of 22 to provide jobs for autistic people, which became a fast-growing chain of cafes at Indian cities and corporate hubs.

Mitti Cafe has more than 50 outlets including at Rashtrapati Bhavan and the Supreme Court. It has created 6,500 plus livelihoods for people with disabilities. It serves 13 million meals.

Father George Kannanthanam, among the few Church representatives at the convention, said he was motivated to include ‘autism’ in his mission among the disabled.

“Every time I go to the Bangalore airport, Terminal 1, it is in Mitti Cafe where I have my tea and snacks,” the Claretian priest told Matters India.

He found the convention an academic exercise with scholars presenting papers and experts discussing relevant topics, but not a gathering of Church people engaged in autism services.

He said several Catholic women religious congregations are involved in the treatment and rehabilitation of autism, but they were not in the invitees list.

An outcome of the convention was the move of St. John’s Medical College to lay the foundation for a large autism center in its campus that will benefit thousands of people, he added.