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Autism and the Different Types of Treatments

AvailableTo Help With Behavioral

Functioning

Jessica SharmaPSY492

What is Autism?• Autism was once defined as

strictly a congenital behavior.• Today, it is a term used, “to

describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD)” (Treating Autism, 2011).

• One in every 110 children diagnosed.

Key Characteristics• “Unusual movements and

mannerisms and problems in dealing with change and novelty” (Chawarska, Klin, & Volkmar, 2008).

• Difficulties in communication, social understanding, and ritualistic and obsessional tendencies (Howlin, 1998).

• Delays in speech and language development, abnormal social responsivity level, medical problems, and nonspecific difficulties related to sleeping (Chawarska, et. al., 2008).

Causes • “There is general professional consensus that autism is biologically based, with a strong genetic component and likely involvement of various neural structures” (Jensen & Sinclair, 2002).

• Beliefs of prenatal or perinatal causes.

• Another believed cause is that experiences a child goes through may “write” on their brain that’s physically different causing this abnormal development (Siegal, 2003).

Parts of brain affected by Autism

Effective Treatment Types

Speech/Verbal Therapy

• Based off of B.F. Skinner’s analysis, “as a basis for teaching language and shaping behavior” (Treating Autism, 2011).

• The most important operants are: echois, mands, tacts, and intraverbals (Treating Autism, 2011).

• “Designed to motivate a child to learn language by developing a connection between a word and its value” (Treating Autism, 2011).

Effective Treatment Types con’t…

Visual Schedules• “A visual schedule will tell the

student with autism what activities will occur and in what sequence” (Stokes, n.d.).

• Addresses sequential memory and organization of time, while also assisting with language comprehension problems to understand what’s expected of them (Stokes, n.d.).

• Visual schedules are based on “first-then” strategies.

Effective Treatment Types con’t…

Sensory Integration• “A normal developmental

process involving the ability of the child’s central nervous system to organize sensations from the environment and from with in the body to make adaptive responses necessary for learning and for behavioral regulation” (Kurtz, 2008).

• Teaches motion, sound, touch, eye-hand coordination, balance, and vision (Healing Thresholds, 2009)

Effective Treatment Types con’t…Applied Behavior

Analysis • “Process of applying sometimes tentative principles of behavior to the improvements of specific behaviors” (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968).

• Like operant conditioning, this treatment uses rewards to increase the likelihood of positive behavior.

• “Self-examining, self-evaluating, discovery-oriented research procedure for studying behavior” (Baer, et. al., 1968).

Effective Treatment Types con’t…

Medication, Special Diets, and Vitamin Supplements

• These three methods are always combined with the treatments previously stated, because they don’t usually help solve the problems the child is dealing with on their own.

• They are believed to enhance the results of the previously stated treatments.

Conclusion: So Which is Best??• There is no single mode of

treatment that is effective for all children and families.

• Intervention has to be adapted to each individual child’s specific needs (Howlin, 1998).

• Early intervention and diagnosis is critical to an autistic child, because it will increase their abilities to treat the problems they develop.

• Overall, there is still so much research to be done and so many questions left to answer.

Recommendations: Questions for future research…

• Will this disorder ever be fully treatable?

• What goes into the decision making process that underlies specific treatment selection by parents of autistic children?

• What is the main cause of autism?

References• Baer, D.M., Wolf, M.M., and Risley, T.R. (1968). Some current

dimensions of applied behavior analysis. The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1), 91-97.

• Chawarska, K., Klin, A., and Volkmar, F.R. (2008). Autism Spectrum Disorder In Infants and Toddlers: Diagnosis, Assessment, and Treatment. New York, NY: The Guildford Press.

• Howlin, P. (1998). Practitioner Review: Psychological and Educational Treatments for Autism. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 39(3), 307-322.

• Jensen, V.K., Sinclair, L.V. (2002). Treatment of Autism in Young Children: Behavioral Intervention and Applied Behavior Analysis. Infants & Young Children, 14(4), 42-52.

• Siegal, B. (2003). Helping Children with Autism Learn. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.

• Stokes, S. (n.d.). Structured Teaching: Strategies for Supporting Students with Autism. Visual Schedules. Retrieved June 2, 2011, fromhttp://www.specialed.us/autism/structure/str10.htm

• Treating Autism. (2011). Autism Speaks. Retrieved May 10, 2011, from http://www.autismspeaks.org/treatment/index.php