Effective Treatment
Every child deserves to thrive, and children with autism should have the opportunity to realize their inherent potential and achieve the highest quality of life possible.
Effective Treatment
Since the publication of the outcomes for 19 children receiving intensive behavioral treatment at the UCLA Young Autism project in 1987, there has been ever increasing awareness of the capability for children with autism to make far greater gains in overall development than was previously thought possible.
In the 1987 study by Ivar Lovaas and colleagues at UCLA, 9 of the 19 children’s IQ scores increased to the normal range and at long term followup remained successful in mainstream classrooms with no supports and were indistinguishable from their peers.
What is the right treatment for your child?
Parenting a child with autism can present many challenges and one of them is searching for the right treatment.
Every year there are new treatments claiming to be highly effective in treating individuals with autism, anecdotal reports from parents, and drugs and medications claiming to cure autism, yet most lack the scientific rigor and testing to support their claims.
Critical Questions to ask when researching treatment options:
- What is the treatment program’s rationale and purpose?
- Is there written information?
- What is involved for the child and family?
- What is the length of treatment, frequency of sessions, time and costs to the family?
- Does the treatment focus on one skill or is it a comprehensive program?
- Will the treatment result in harm to the child?
- Is the treatment developmentally appropriate?
- What is the background and training experience of the staff?
- Does the treatment teamsolicit and respect input from the family?
- Are assessment procedures specified and is the program individualized for each child?
- How will progress be measured?
- How often will effectiveness of the intervention be evaluated?
- Who will conduct the evaluation?
- What criteria will be used to determine if treatment should be continued or abandoned?
- What scientific evidence supports the effectiveness of the program?
- How will failure of treatment affect the child and family?
- How will treatment be integrated into the child’s current program?
