Thiruvananthapuram: Centre for Autism and other Disabilities Rehabilitation Research and Education (CADRRE), a not-for-profit organization, is hosting a two-day autism awareness celebration on Saturday and Sunday at Lulu Mall.The formal event will start at 5pm on Saturday with the presentation of award for ‘Lifetime Contribution to Autism’ posthumously to Ashok Mysore Visweswariah, founder and head of Centre for Advanced Research and Excellence in Autism and Developmental Disorders (CARE-ADD) at St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore. The award will be presented to Dr Vijaya Raman by chief guest K M Chandrasekhar, former cabinet secretary of India. This will be followed by announcement of the awards for CADRRE International Filmlet Festival on Autism 2026 by members of jury – Bina Paul, Venu (filmmakers), Swarup B R of Stark Communications and V R Ferose, widely recognized for leading SAP’s Autism at Work initiative. The awards will be presented by the guest of honour, G Venugopal, playback singer. The venue will also feature an exhibition by autistic entrepreneurs that will be open to the public from 10am to 10pm on both days. There will be a panel discussion on Across the ages: From diagnosis to strength-based support, led by Smrithy Rajesh, a psychologist and special educator and an autism mom, at 4pm on Saturday. On Sunday, there will be performances by autistic artists at 4.30pm.
