In preparation for your child’s future, you have already taken an important first step by seeking out information. If you learn as much as you can, visit schools and facilities offering intervention, talk to professionals and other parents, and consider all your options, you’ll be able to make an informed decision about the treatment options that most suit your child’s needs.

Early-Intervention

Early Interventions

Social-communication deficits are perhaps the most limiting aspect of autism. In terms of quality of life, it is particularly important to establish a functional communication system that your child can use to interact with others and to benefit from other forms of intervention and treatment. Some programs are effective at teaching children to use expressive language, but leave the child’s vocabulary limited to labeling objects. This is not sufficient for the give-and-take of human communication. Instead, it is critical that treatment programs put a communication system in place that teaches children to use it competently with their parents, siblings, other family members, peers, teachers, and other people in the child’s community. Addressing areas of deficits early, consistently, and thoroughly is likely to have the most meaningful impact on an individual’s quality of life.

Early Interventions More Then One Treatment

Intervention invariably involves more than one treatment and multiple providers – an intervention team. Several types of professionals and services should be involved in taking care of a child with autism. This team should be under the direction of one certified and experienced professional who will develop, organize, advocate for, and watch over your child’s specific program. The team may include some or all of the following professionals: Developmental Pediatrician, Child Psychiatrist, Neurologist, Board Certified Behavior Analyst, Child Psychologist, Special or General Education Teacher, Occupational Therapist, Physical Therapist, and/or Speech-Language Pathologist.

Early-Intervention

Your child’s treatment program should include the following components to varying degrees:

Most experts agree that early intervention is associated with positive prognostic outcomes, so it is important to get your child started with an intervention program as soon as possible.

Your child’s treatment program should be of sufficient intensity and duration. Various professional sources vary widely with regard to the type, intensity, and duration of treatment. What is important is that the treatment plan is designed to fit your child’s specific needs and symptoms. Your child’s developmental specialist can recommend the optimal treatment plan for your child, which may include occupational, speech and language, and physical therapy, ABA, and medications. Treatment should not stop there. We instill engagement learning opportunities throughout the day.

One way to increase the intensity of your child’s treatment program is to ensure that you and other family members are actively involved. Parent training programs, in which a treatment provider teaches you how to implement intervention procedures, are highly recommended. The goal is not for you to become or replace a therapist; it is to help maintain or increase the intensity of the desired treatment. Because you interact with your child regularly, teaching you how to best structure your interactions will enhance and support your child’s treatment program. Further, once you have received training, you will likely be able to train other family members, babysitters, teachers, and peers—particularly important and beneficial when new therapists are added to your team or if your family relocates. Finally, including other members of your family, such as your child’s siblings, may help them learn how best to interact and play with their sibling with autism, thereby further optimizing learning opportunities and the treatment program. While the involvement of siblings can be important, it is critical to be sensitive to their needs and not make unreasonable demands on them.

Generalizing skills to new environments and/or new people is challenging for many children with autism. There are two ways to improve generalization. The most preferable is to implement intervention programs directly in natural environments (e.g., home, school, and community). By teaching children in natural environments where they live, learn, and play, generalization training is essentially built into the intervention.

When teaching in the natural environment is not feasible for some reason, your child can be taught skills in a non-natural environment (e.g., therapy room or special education classroom). In such situations, it is important to ensure that a systematic plan for generalizing skills to the natural environment is in place before a new skill is introduced.

Treatment programs that are primarily implemented in natural environments likely include opportunities for children with autism to interact with their typically developing peers. Children with autism who are included in general education classrooms, for instance, may have numerous opportunities to talk with classmates. However, being physically close to peers and having opportunities to interact does not necessarily bring about social competence. The social deficits in autism often necessitate interventions that specifically structure interactions and teach children with autism how to interact with their peers. These interventions can take place in the classroom, on the playground, during play dates, or within community-based after-school activities.

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