The Beginning

Established in 2003 by Deepa Bhat Nair, a Speech & Language Pathologist with close to 30 years of experience, Communiverse (previously known as DBN Com DEALL Mumbai) is an organization that helps bridge the gaps between children on the Autism Spectrum and the world around them. Our intervention program has been the first-of-its-kind in Mumbai to offer an interdisciplinary strategy comprising Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Pre-Academic Inputs, all under one roof.

What started in Colaba, Mumbai with five children, eventually grew bigger and more successful with an outreach that spanned borders. We have now worked with families across the length and breadth of India as well as Yemen, Australia, the UK, Ireland, the US and Kenya.

Our program has consistently demonstrated outstanding results. Our team is always adapting and improving its methods to make them as effective as they can be.

We bring close to 25 years of experience to our online support program. Our intervention is tailored so specifically that it is easy to deliver even in the online mode. We work not just with the child, but with the entire family to create a nurturing environment and a holistic approach to intervention.

Our Approach

The better we are at expressing ourselves, the better we connect with others!
We work with children to create an enabling and empowering environment. This helps them put their unique experiences into words and become adept at communicating their perspectives and needs.
With time and patience, we try to identify each child’s strengths and help them optimise their full potential.

Our early intervention program is aimed at children with developmental language disorders such as

Pervasive Developmental Disorder

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Specific Language Impairment

Developmental Verbal Dyspraxia

At the heart of our approach with adolescents and young adults is the belief that every individual’s unique way of experiencing and interacting with the world is valuable. We embrace the principles of neurodiversity by focusing on strengths, respecting differences, and fostering self-advocacy. Incorporating insights from leading frameworks such as Kelly Mahler’s interoception practices and Garcia Winner’s Social Thinking® curriculum, we also actively learn from neurodivergent voices to continuously refine our approach. Our ultimate goal is to empower individuals to thrive authentically, while helping their families and communities understand and support them better.

Deepa Bhat Nair - The Groundbreaker

Speech & Language Therapist

Founder & Director, Communiverse

Centre for Autism and Related Conditions (Affiliated to The Com DEALL Trust)

About Deepa Bhat Nair (Founder & Director)

Deepa Bhat Nair has worked extensively in the area of childhood language disorders over a career spanning close to 30 years. Her interest in the subject began from her college days, when she completed her postgraduate degree with a University Gold Medal in the subject from Asia’s premier speech and hearing institute, The All India Institute of Speech and Hearing, Mysore.

A Certified Master Trainer in the Com DEALL program, she is also Hanen Certified in It Takes Two to Talk. Early in her career, Deepa worked with an interdisciplinary team at Child Care Centre, Kochi (an organisation run by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics), which honed the skills required for a holistic understanding of child development.

For regular tips from Deepa Bhat Nair follow her on Instagram

For an insightful podcast by Deepa Bhat Nair click here

Deepa is passionate about early intervention, parent empowerment and the development of trained manpower in the field. She has conducted training programs for various stakeholders across India and is committed to staying abreast of the latest developments in the field.

She owes a great deal of this professional success to her mentor and professor, Dr. Prathibha Karanth, a renowned Speech & Language Therapist and Founder of the Com DEALL program

She has presented papers at the Annual Conferences of the Indian Speech & Hearing Association (ISHA) as well as The American Speech & Hearing Association (ASHA).

Deepa is committed to interdisciplinary work, in order to have a holistic approach to intervention. She was invited to work on a collaborative paper titled, Language Disorders in Children: Complimentary Roles of Child Psychiatrists and Speech and Language that was published in the Journal of AIISH. (Journal of The All India Institute of Speech and Hearing. 41(1):3-16, January-December 2022).

Another collaborative work a poster on – Delivering Com DEALL early intervention online through the lens of caregivers and early interventionists was presented at the Annual Conference of the International Society of Autism Research (INSAR) at Stockholm in May 2023.

In August 2024 Deepa contributed to a paper, Feasibility and acceptability of a caregiver-mediated early support program, delivered online, for infants at elevated familial likelihood for autism: A feasibility randomized controlled trial, published in Autism Research (https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.3217).

Deepa helped establish CHETNA – the early intervention center for the Indian Navy at New Delhi. A unit that she mentored for two years, putting processes in place and training the team. She was awarded the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) commendation for this contribution in August 2023.

She is a clinical collaborator at Lil’- the infant toddler Language Development & Intervention Lab at NIMHANS, Bengaluru- an invited position which she has held for three years.

As an Indian Navy Spouse; Deepa is an active member of the Navy Welfare and Wellness Association (NWWA).

In February 2023, Deepa represented NWWA at the W20 Inception Meet, Aurangabad. This is one of the many events conducted under the larger umbrella of G20 India. Here is a short clip from the event.

Deepa has authored/coauthored a variety of parent training manuals (including Parallel Talk, Teaching Basic Gestures to Children with Autism, Independent Activity Completion and Bridging the Gap – A School Transition Manual; and developed a Training Video on Typical Development of Pre-Learning Skills in Children.

As Affiliations Coordinator for The Com DEALL Trust, a position she held for 6 years, Deepa has mentored 15 units of Com DEALL, leading to their certification as independent units. As Master Trainer, she is often invited to conduct quality check inspections of the affiliate units of The Com DEALL Trust, the most recent being the ones at CAREADD, St. John’s Hospital, Bengaluru, and WNF Foundation, Bengaluru, in January 2022.

Deepa Bhat Nair is a Life Member of the Indian Speech & Hearing Association (ISHA) and a Full Member of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR).

She would like to acknowledge our various well-wishers; The Forum for Autism (Mumbai), a parent support group, Mr. Aditya B. Nemani and Rotary Club Mumbai, for their constant support, Rangoli R. Dhingra our photographer for the website and Arati Rajan Menon for content support for the website.

Many thanks to individuals and parents of children whom we have worked with (most of whom wish to remain anonymous) for supporting the intervention of some children whose families find it difficult to bear the costs.

Your efforts strengthen our work!

Years of Experience

Parents Empowered

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Our Motivation

Arjun was 2.8 years old when Deepa first started working with him.

Arjun’s Challenges

Consistently Restless
Meltdowns & Temper Tantrums
Couldn’t Sit in a Place for Long
Couldn’t Maintain Eye Contact
No Speech

In addition to the one-on-one Speech Therapy with Deepa, Arjun received Occupational Therapy and Preschool Training.

A year and a half later, Arjun’s progress was evident. He could connect well with his surroundings, could speak short sentences, could sit in a place for longer periods of time, and finished his tasks independently. Despite the progress, Arjun’s parents were sceptical about him surviving the environment of a less structured classroom with 30 other children. Arjun also disliked close proximity with other children and often pushed them for no apparent reason, adding to their misgivings.

This is when a chance meeting with Deepa’s mentor, Dr. Prathibha Karanth, led to the birth of Mumbai’s first Com DEALL unit. Arjun received group intervention at Com DEALL Mumbai for a year before he joined a regular school. After joining the school in the mornings, Arjun continued with intervention for a second year in the afternoons. The intensity of intervention gradually tapered off in the second year.

Arjun graduated from High School in 2018 in the Science stream.

His performance report even hit the newspapers! View Newspaper Report.

Today, Arjun is an engineer in a Multinational Company and we are proud of him!

Our Philosophy

Our top priority is to get children included in the mainstream by helping them find their sense of belonging and self-confidence. At Communiverse, we have created a positive, harmonious environment in which children, families and professionals working with the children can thrive together. We maintain work transparency and empower parents to participate with us at every step. Parent empowerment is a major focus area, which is why Parent Training and Demonstration Therapy are built into our schedule. We work closely with parents regarding the many challenges they face and help them assimilate the skills learnt with us into their daily lives.

We are accountable to ensure that we meet our goal of measurable gains in specified timeframes. Witnessing the changes in the children keeps us internally motivated. Our professionals have unanimously told us that their biggest learning at Communiverse has been interdisciplinary work and a holistic approach towards child development.

Indeed, we take pride in staying abreast of the latest developments in the field. We are proud to offer a program in line with the best global practices. We strive to ensure that we remain the best early intervention service for Autism in Mumbai by following the Com DEALL program.

Our Evolution

With a humble beginning in 2003 as an early intervention centre, our organisation has gone through a massive evolution in the last two decades. Today, we cater not only to toddlers, but also to middle school children, adolescents, and young adults on the spectrum. We have had a remarkable expansion in the scope of activities that we conduct.

Thus, to mark our growth, on the occasion of our 20th anniversary, we are transitioning to “Communiverse”, a universe dedicated to the holistic growth and well-being of autistic children, adolescents and young adults. A universe that encompasses the entire spectrum of our work. A universe that spans all the various needs of children on the spectrum and extends support throughout their journey.

The past 20 years have seen the branching out of our resources, support and intervention techniques.

Today we work both in-person and online, extending our reach not only to the farthest corner of Mumbai but across India and overseas as well.

Further, our Founder has spread her wings to include a variety of activities such as mentoring other professional teams, publishing parent training manuals, conducting training programs for parents, professionals & teachers, and participating in clinical research activity.

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