Autcon the flagship NICE annual conference on Autism was held on March 6^th and 7^th as an E-conference. The conference focused on Coordinated Autism Management Plan (CAMP). With multidisciplinary setting as an intervention point and having the primary pediatrician at the core, care for Autism touches a variety of aspects to care. The key lies in coordinating these aspects even while having the kid as a focus and  with a psychosocial approach. AUTCON 2021 focused on this coordination aspect. The two-day conference was Co-Hosted by the National Chapter of Growth  Development and Behavioral Pediatrics (GDBP) of IAP as well as the Chennai City Branch of IAP.

Day 1 began with where it usually starts in care for Autism. The primary pediatrician. Spotting for red flags and guiding for early intervention(SAGE Concept) for primary pediatricians was on the agenda. The well-structured program was a wonderful add- on to the tool kit for the pediatricians to use in their OPD. Right from early warning signs to counselling the family and getting involved in the follow-up  was well elucidated by Dr.S.Subramanian and his team. There was also an interview with doyen of primary pediatric care.Dr.S.Thangavelu who gave hands -on tips on monitoring for growth and development. Their speech was not a mere pep talk but rather a message from their experience. Dr.Kamath was beaming with happiness and pride in seeing her students our directors Dr.Subramanian and Dr.Meenakshi’s passionate work in growth and development. The attendees were engaging and were happy to learn.

The attendees came with a quest to seek answers for spotting for red flags, to know about how a multi disciplinary approach works on the child, counseling and keeping up with the family, managing comorbidities etc. and they were glad to leave enlightened.

Day 2 of the event was for the intervention professionals, the therapists to give them hands-on training on Goal setting. After a brief introduction to the concept of goal setting, there was an elaborate panel discussion on the same where the various facets of goal setting were discussed. This was followed by setting up SMART GOALS by the participants as team. Day 2’s focus was primarily about educating on goal setting and its relevance to the professionals and of course the child.

The two-day event was a learning experience for the organizing team as well in doing an online event  and gaining insights towards efficiency in such mode of delivery. We take this opportunity to thank the esteemed faculty for the two days and our entire NICE team.

Look forward to our next editions of conferences where we all are engaging in collaborative learning.