One Mother's Journey Sparked a New Autism Intervention That's Helped 100s of Families

When Mayuri Ramdasi first stepped into the world of child development as a speech-language therapist in 2012, she believed she understood autism. She had worked across clinics in Pune and Bengaluru, watched families cycle in and out of therapy rooms, and seen children attend sessions week after week in the hope of progress. But nothing prepared her for what she felt when the journey suddenly became personal.

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It was only after discovering that her daughter Devahuti was on the autism spectrum that her understanding of development — and the gaps in India’s therapy system — sharpened irreversibly.

As a trained speech-language therapist and a mother of two, Mayuri knew the milestones to watch for — the social smiles, the cooing, the giggling in response to the world. But her daughter Devahuti’s profound silence was the first sign.

She experienced firsthand the helplessness parents feel when a maze of medical terminology, contradictory advice, and limited accessibility leaves them overwhelmed. She witnessed how deeply therapy can influence a home, how fragile family confidence can be, and how much of a child’s progress depends not on the therapist, but on the environment they return to every day.

That awakening became the seed of Arula, a parent-led therapy intervention.

“I realised that most children were being rushed into speech before their listening skills were ready,” she tells The Better India. “Listening comes before speaking. If the foundation isn’t strong, everything else collapses.”

Arula grew out of a mother’s lived experience, a therapist’s insight, and a conviction that transformation is possible when parents become the centre of intervention.

A listening-led model born inside a home

In 2023, when Arula was launched, Mayuri was helping a small group of parents understand what she wished someone had explained to her. Over time, her approach deepened: every behavioural concern, every communication delay, every sensory difficulty had to be viewed through the lens of how well a child listens, engages, regulates and bonds.

The more she watched children move through the traditional system, the more she noticed its limitations. Weekly sessions were too spaced out. Techniques did not consider a child’s sensory profile. Parents were often treated as silent observers — waiting outside therapy rooms while crucial breakthroughs happened inside.

Arula was formed as a counter-approach — a model where listening sits at the centre, and the home becomes the primary setting for therapy.

It runs as a structured, year-long online therapy model that places parents at the centre of a child’s developmental progress. Families enrolled in the programme receive access to a dedicated digital portal with over 500 videos that breaks therapy into three simple pathways:

• The Elevate programme – where founder Mayuri demonstrates how caregivers should speak, listen, and connect with their child.
  

• The Orientation programme – covering sensory play and Arula’s foundational concepts.
  

• The Dynamic programme – a command-based structure that builds auditory, visual and emotional regulation.
  

This reimagination quickly drew young therapists and parents who had been searching for something more grounded, research-backed and human.

Vanshika Upadhyay, Arula’s Global Head for Autism Therapy Care and a neuropsychologist, joined after experiencing the limitations of conventional therapy.

Unlike traditional therapy, where progress depends on a child’s mood or single weekly sessions, Arula’s daily, home-based interactions create compounding change.

Every routine activity becomes an opportunity for development — pouring water into a bottle, wiping a surface, arranging vegetables, putting toys away, lighting a diya. These are simple tasks, but developmentally powerful.

Arula’s framework identifies 18 core developmental parameters — from understanding spoken language and social skills to potty training, sleep patterns, and family bonding — that are nurtured not in isolation, but simultaneously and organically through the curated daily interactions.

“We never say this month we will work only on this parameter,” Mayuri explains. “Once you start working on listening skills, all other parameters develop automatically. Parents would tell me, ‘Now he’s understanding. Now he listens. Now he follows what I say.’ This usually happens within a week to a month.”

Vanshika’s role isn’t to make children do worksheets or flashcards. Instead, she reviews videos that parents send in, watching how the child sits, how they bond, and how parents guide and encourage them.

“The whole approach is focusing on the aspect that we are not intending to make something get done by the child,” Vanshika explains. “We are intending to do something with them. The activities are just the medium to connect.”

Arula has worked with over 450 families in total, with more than 350 families currently active in its ecosystem.

“These activities are just the medium,” she explains. “What develops is the communicational bonding, the social motivation, and the understanding that my child is capable.”

A mother in London finds hope through a Facebook ad

The transformative power of this model echoes in the voices of parents across geographies and backgrounds.

Thousands of kilometres away in London, lawyer Priya Thapar’s journey with her six-year-old son was marked by frustration and fatigue. She had tried every therapy model that came her way — ABA, speech sessions, child-led play — but progress was painfully slow.

When she travelled to India for a short visit, she was determined to explore more options. Late one night, scrolling through social media, she stumbled upon an Arula video. She watched one, then several more.

She recalls her favourite activity to do with her son: a bag filled with household items — a phone, a comb, a spoon. “Please put the remote in the bag,” she’d say, focusing on clear speech.

“My child recognised all the items within three to four days. He picked up something he didn’t pick up with flashcards over months,” she says.

The exercises, rooted in sensory integration and daily life, were short, doable, and effective. Priya adds that his understanding has sharpened, eye contact improved, and verbalisation has increased.

She laughs softly when she says that Arula’s therapists often understand her son better than other professionals.

“Arula delves into details that educational psychologists don’t. They ask what happened before, after, about triggers, and sensory overload. They are interested, and their insight is unmatched.”

'Arula made me capable'

In Satna, Madhya Pradesh, far from major therapy hubs, Vandana Sharma was navigating a very different reality. Her son could recite rhymes and the alphabet, but not say “mama.” He communicated through pointing and gestures. People told her he would “catch up later.” Even after a doctor suggested evaluation, she had no access to specialised centres.

Desperate for answers, she undertook an introductory module at Arula and applied the first technique — the use of interjection. The shift she saw was strong enough to convince her to enrol.

In the months since, she has witnessed changes she once feared might never come. Her son now expresses choices, speaks to his teachers, narrates incidents from school, and recently created a 30 to 40-word story using a Mickey toy — something she proudly calls “a remarkable achievement.”

But the transformation she talks about most is her own.

“At least 20 mothers have reached out to me after seeing his improvement. Arula made me capable. I’m not dependent on anyone now.”

Her husband, her child’s grandmother, and extended family all participate in everyday learning routines. Even while travelling, they stay consistent — because therapy is woven into their home.

Hope built on 'one good thing a day'

However, the journey isn’t without moments of angst. Here, the Arula Care Therapists become emotional anchors. “My job is to give them my ears,” says Vanshika. She recounts a mother worried about her child’s maths skills compared to neurotypical peers. “I asked her, ‘Can that child bake a cake as beautifully as yours does?’”

This led to a core Arula practice: ‘One Good Thing a Day.’ “Any one good thing your child did, you look out for that,” Vanshika explains. “That one good thing becomes a big achievement. It helps them a lot with their own mental health.” It’s a practice that systematically dismantles guilt and comparison, replacing them with celebration.

A message to her younger self

For Mayuri, the journey circles back to the mother’s heart. Her message to her younger, struggling self is a lifeline to all parents:

“Never judge your child. Never compare your child with anybody. Admire your child for every little effort,” she urges. “And come out of the guilt. With guilt, you cannot be happy, and if you are not happy, your child cannot be happy.”

The ultimate reward is in the simple, profound milestones. She gleefully shares the latest: teaching Devahuti to bargain in a market. “When she purchased a kurti for Rs 150 after being quoted Rs 500, the happiness that gave me… We are mothers. It’s a lifetime job.”

With over 350 families served, from toddlers to young adults, across India and the globe, Arula’s vision is clear. “I do not want to create a separate society for my child,” Mayuri states firmly. “The world is good. We have to make our children so capable that they easily merge with the world.”

In the end, Arula’s story isn’t just about autism therapy. It’s about restoring agency to parents, dignity to children, and proving that within the walls of an ordinary home, with a mother’s curated speech and a listening heart, extraordinary change is not just possible — it’s already blooming.