The importance of administering autism rehabilitation therapy in autistic children

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.