Since its inception the Higashi School has gone from strength to strength in India. We have an active academic engagement with the Tokyo and Boston Higashi Schools. After Tokyo and Boston, New Delhi is the third destination where the successful implementation of the Daily Life Therapy®, a method of educating autistic children devised by Dr Kiyo Kitahara, the founder of Higashi School, is implemented. This educational institution, a result of Indo-Japanese collaboration, is a testament to the deep engagement between our two countries in the service of humanity.

Higashi Autism School (HAS)™, as it is in Delhi, is a vast facility dedicated for the autistic children. HAS™ mission is to empower autistic children with skills to become productive members of our society, to bring pride to families where there is despair and fatigue. From this flows the structural arrangement of various departments, specialist teaching and parental guidance.

The objective is to raise every autistic child to the full potential of human development so that they achieve their sense of selfhood and inclusion. This will come through academic progress, subject specific aptitude, skilling in IT, vocational competence, communication and participation in competitive events, for example, in the field of Sports and Fine Arts.

For communication difficulties, a rigorous conventional speech and language-training program suitably buttressed by Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC), is implemented thereby giving the children and their families the wherewithal of self-confidence, self-esteem, social tendencies and independence. Although autistic characteristics never disappear in lifetime, under guidance of the unique pedagogy of the Higashi Education system, autistic children too become achievers and performers. This gives joy and self-worth to parents who are overwhelmed by the unusual behaviors of autistic children and the disappointments of having missed the milestones of typically developing children.

We uphold dearly the ‘Knowledge of India’ traditions and the Bharatiya values of ‘Shiksha and Sewa’. The Sri Krishna temple on the School premises will benefit the children with prayers and Sanskrit mantra chanting. A Yoga curriculum specially designed – Integrated Approach to Yoga Therapy (IAYT) – is intended to balance the mind, body and values of the children and help them grow.

We look forward to raising the performance standards in the field of Autism services in India.