A 2016 CDC estimate states that 1 in 54 children has a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Early intervention is essential for the best outcomes.
Therapy can help children with autism learn new skills and reduce their symptoms. But it's important to find the therapy that is right for your child.
ABA therapy is innovative and designed for every unique child with autism. It involves carefully observing and learning about your child and their environment, then developing a treatment plan that focuses on their strengths, challenges, and needs.
It's a holistic approach that helps children and adults with autism live happy, fulfilling lives. It also helps parents and other care providers provide a more nurturing and safe environment for their children.
One of the primary strategies used in ABA is positive reinforcement, which works to identify goal behaviors. This involves providing something that is meaningful to the person—praising, a book or toy, watching a video, access to the playground, and so on.
Speech-language therapy is a highly effective and innovative therapy for every unique child with autism. It helps children develop their verbal skills as well as nonverbal communication methods such as signs or gestures.
Speech therapists can also help autistic children improve their receptive language skills, or their ability to understand what they hear. They may also work on their expressive language skills, or their ability to express their thoughts and emotions in words.
The right time to start speech therapy for your child with autism will depend on their individual needs. Ideally, it should begin after they've received ABA and OT.
Occupational therapy, or OT, is an innovative therapy for every unique child with autism. Occupational therapists help children with autism develop their daily living skills, improve fine motor and gross motor skills, and increase self-regulation, sensory processing, and communication.
During OT sessions, the therapist will work on any area that is causing difficulties for your child with autism. It may be the ability to write, pay attention, or respond appropriately to sensory input, identify others in the environment, or control emotions.
Using a sensory-integration approach, occupational therapists help children with autism process visual, auditory, smell, touch, taste, and body position. This can impact their ability to participate in daily activities like brushing their teeth, playing at school, and engaging with their family.
The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is an innovative therapy for every unique child with autism. It is evidence-based, relationship-focused, and incorporates Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy.
This treatment focuses on social learning processes and improves children’s social, emotional, language, and cognitive skills. It has been found to be more effective than other treatments for young children with autism.
It also has the benefit of being highly engaging because it is entirely play-based. This allows professionals to keep the child's attention while teaching new skills.
Pivotal response therapy (PRT) is a behavioral therapy that uses natural reinforcement to teach pivotal social skills. It helps children learn to initiate social interactions, respond to multiple cues, and self-regulate their behavior.
Research shows that children who respond well to PRT are able to make widespread improvements in communication, learning, and behavior. It is often used with children with autism and other developmental disabilities.
The approach is play-based and initiated by the child. It's based on the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA).
Therapists use motivational strategies to increase children's desire to learn and perform behaviors associated with good consequences. They also use techniques such as task variation and interspersing maintenance and acquisition tasks. In addition, therapists encourage parents to implement the principles of PRT in their daily lives.