INSTITUTE FOR COMMUNICATIVE AND COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCES (ICCONS)

Institute for Communicative and Cognitive Neurosciences (ICCONS) is an autonomous not-for-profit neuroscience specialty hospital and research institute established under the Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Kerala. Founded in 1998, it operates two centres—one in Shoranur, Palakkad district, and another in Pulayanarkotta, Thiruvananthapuram. In January 2015, it became the first center in India treating cognitive, speech, and language disorders to receive NABH accreditation from the Quality Council of India. ICCONS aims to scientifically diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate congenital and non-congenital intellectual and linguistic diseases such as autism, cerebral palsy, dementia, and learning disabilities. Dr. P. A. Suresh was the founder director, followed by Dr. Sanjeev V Thomas as the second director. The Kerala Minister of Health chairs its Governing Council, with the Minister of Social Justice as co-chairman. The institute is staffed by neurologists, speech-language pathologists, audiologists, clinical psychologists, and physiotherapists, treating conditions like ADHD, Rett syndrome, Landau–Kleffner syndrome, and aphasia. In 2019, ICCONS partnered with IIT Palakkad for research on Assistive and Rehabilitation Technology. It also offers academic courses including the Bachelor of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology (BASLP) and Master in Audiology and Speech Language Pathology (MASLP).