Every parent wishes to have a healthy child, but there are
some disorders that seem to affect the child. One of the most common and known
disorder is autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and usually called just autism and
used to explain the neurodevelopmental disorders in a child. There is broad
range of characteristics and conditions that a child experiences, which
includes difficulty in speech, communication, motor skills, social skills, and
repetitive behaviors.
Medical studies and research show that there is not one but
many subtypes of autism which are mostly categorized according to different
genetic and environmental factors. As autism is a spectrum disorder, it means
that a child diagnosed with the disorder will have varied set of skills,
strengths, and problems. The autism signs and symptoms usually start to appear
when the child is 2 or 3 years old, but the signs can appear even earlier when
the child is 18 or 20 months old. The child usually has difficulty in properly
communicating, repeating body movements, having negative reaction to a
particular sound or light, and loss of concentration. As a child grows he
mostly uses nonverbal communication such as crying and grunting to show
distaste about a particular thing. Autism is one of the disorders that
unfortunately does not have a permanent cure, but there are certain medications
and therapies that can allay the symptoms of a child diagnosed with autism. One
of the known and effective therapy is autism rehabilitation therapy that allows children to alter their behavior,
overcome their various difficulties and lead meaningful lives.
The numerous medical studies suggest that early intervention
and the start of behavior therapy can considerably improve the condition of an
autistic child and help in his communication and social skills. The treatment
that a child gets depends on his condition and symptoms as autism is a spectrum
disorder which means he could have both mild and severe symptoms. The main
purpose of the treatment is improve the learning and development of the child
and make his body better adapt to changes that occur with age. The
identification, diagnoses, and treatment of autism at an early age would help
child cope with multiple problems in an effective manner. There are certain
qualified and experienced autism rehabilitation therapists who knew the correct methods to treat autism in children.
One of
the reliable technique is applied behavior analysis (ABA) in which the
therapists work with the families of the autistic children so that the
technique can be implemented correctly. The ABA technique is used to improve
wide range of skills in the autistic children, and it has different types for
different situations such as
·
Pivotal response training (PRT) is best to
motivate the autistic kids’ communication and learning.
·
Discrete trial training (DTT) involves the use of
easy and simple lessons and positive reinforcements
·
Verbal behavior intervention (VBI) emphasizes on the
development of language skills
·
Early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI),
this method is ideal for children diagnosed with autism who are under the age
of 5
Apart from autism rehabilitation therapy, there
are other speeches and occupational therapy that can help the autistic children
to develop their communication, social, language and motor skills. In the ABA
technique, therapist will first monitor the abilities and strengths of the
child and then determine the activity that can benefit him. The majority part
of the therapy is focused on reinforcement, repetition, and encouragement so
that the autistic child knows what action to take when faced with a particular
situation. The therapists usually recommend 40 hours of therapy session in a
week. One another useful therapy is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) that
allows the autistic child to recognize certain situation that triggers
different behaviors and how to adjust his attitude.
