Autism Behavioral Treatment Study Shows Positive Results

Autism is a developmental disorder that occurs in every 3 out of 1000 children across the US. Autism is a behavioral disorder, characteristics of Autism include impairments of communication skills, social interactions, show repetitive behavior and can inhibit the child's learning capabilities. Autism can be detected in children as early as 18 months old to 3 years of age. The earlier Autism is detected in a child the better the child's treatments options are.

A recent study of behavioral treatment in Autistic children was done at the University of Washington. The study concluded Autistic children that under go two years of behavioral therapy will show vast improvement and symptoms will be decreased, which will result in a milder diagnosis of Autism.

There has always been controversy over the age a child should undergo behavioral treatments for Autism. This study was small and evaluated only 48 children some as young as 18 months old. The study randomly selected Autistic children to receive behavioral treatment called the Early start Denver model from therapists, parents or others for less comprehensive care. The treatment focused on communication and social interaction. Therapists or parents would repeatably hold a toy or an object in front of the child's face trying to get the child to make eye contact on the object, ask for the object/toy. The children in the treatment group would undergo therapy four hours a day five days a week.

After, two years of undergoing the treatment the children in the specialized group's IQ's increased an average of 18 points verses an average of 7 points in the other group. 30 percent in the specialized group were then diagnosed with a less server case of Autism. Only 5 percent in the group were diagnosed with a less server case. One child who underwent the behavioral treatment for two years at the age of 2. He is now 6 and is in a normal kindergarten class, has a mild delay with communication skills but does not come off as being Autistic.

I found this article very interesting. Wanting to become a teacher I may have students that suffer from Autism, knowing that there is behavioral treatment that can improve the child's learning capabilities, experience, and communication skills can possibly incorporated into my teaching lessons. Being able to help my students learn to the best of their ability would be satisfying.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091130/ap_on_he_me/us_med_autism_improvement