This program was initially developed by WHO and Autism Speaks a US-based autism advocacy organization. The objective of CST is to train non-autism-specialist professionals to in turn train caregivers in strategies to support their children’s development of communication skills and reduce their challenging behaviors. More broadly, the program also aims to:

• Address the huge demand and supply gap of specialized services in LMICs (low, middle, income countries) due to inadequate numbers of trained professionals and sub-optimal training in evidence-based practices
• Provide evidence-based, open-source, culturally compatible, parent-mediated intervention for 2-9-year-old children CST has since been adapted and implemented across 35 countries. In India, the adaptation and pilot of this program were led by Ummeed between 2017 to 2020, the content is being translated into Hindi, Marathi, and Bengali, and the program is being formally launched in the year 2021. Ummeed implements CST Program under the Training of Trainers (ToT) model, using an online mode. It begins with identifying organizations across India working with children with disabilities running parent-mediated training on regular basis and agreeing to integrate WHO-CST into their existing intervention model. Facilitators from these identified organizations/sites meeting the eligibility criteria are interviewed and selected who then undergo the yearlong training, followed by the facilitators implementing the strategies with parents/ caregivers where they are supported through supervision and mentoring sessions. The facilitators at each organization then go on to train caregivers through 9 group sessions for caregivers and 3 home visits delivered over one year.

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