Originally reported and written in April 2023, this story has been republished as part of our archival content.

As a young PhD fellow, Neena Rao from Hyderabad had always envisioned her professional life to be in the impact sector. At the time, however, she never fathomed the difference she would go on to make in people’s lives.

Following her return to India with her family in 2006 from a fulfilling stint in the United States, where she served as faculty at a University in Colorado, Neena says the desire to give back to the community continued to be her centric focus.

While in India, training, capacity building, heading projects in the climate sector, working with a think tank that specialised in water management and more, occupied the young mother’s time. But just as she was settling into these myriad roles, she realised all wasn’t well at home.

“My 12-year-old son started showing signs of needing extra attention. Visits to multiple doctors finally yielded a diagnosis. He had Asperger’s syndrome.”

What she would learn about the condition and the innovative ways that she would come up with to help her son are today the foundation stones of Margika — a network for training and capacity building of the special kids and their caregivers.

The foundation is empowering special kids to not just survive in this world but also thrive. It was born out of this mother’s zeal to help kids who, like her son, were struggling with different neurodivergent disorders.

Understanding Aperger’s Syndrome

The developmental disorder falls under the autism spectrum and is classified by symptoms — such as difficulty facing social situations, odd speech patterns, peculiar mannerisms, inability to understand nonverbal communication, and difficulty in managing emotions, among others.

With every individual, the symptoms vary. So, when Neena noticed that her son showed an ardent love for reading, she was thrilled and encouraged him to harness it. His intelligent questions and mature take on the world often amazed her.

“At the age of five, he asked his........

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