Innovative Approaches Dramatically Improving Children's Lives.
By: James Malan
*This article originally appeared in the Summer 2004 Company Newsletter.
Autism is one of the most frequently diagnosed and devastating disorders in children effecting as many as 1 in 167 children with parents frequently notice symptoms in the first twenty-four months of life.. As many as 1.5 Million Americans both children and adults are thought to have Autism today.
Autism is a not so much a disease as it is a syndrome, or collection of symptoms. The symptoms of autism present themselves in a wide variety of combinations. Although clinically autism is defined by a certain set of excess and deficit behaviors, children and adults can exhibit any combination of the behaviors in any degree of severity. Two children, both with the same diagnosis, can act very differently from one another and have varying skills.
Intensive Treatment begins with an initial workshop, in which the family and staff, usually hired from a local college, is trained by a consultant. The initial workshop for children who have not received prior treatment generally takes about 12-16 hours. At the initial workshop introductory programs are taught and the child is taught to respond and interact using a variety of social praise, activities and food.
Intensive treatment generally last 2-4 years with 35-55 hours a week of intervention from age 2- 6, with intensive treatment ending optimally around the end of first grade. During this time a consultant reviews the program each month to set new goals, troubleshoot and introduce more advance programs based upon the child's progress.
Approximately half the children discontinue treatment after the initial intensive treatment, and are able to be mainstreamed into a regular accademic placement and lead normal lives. The other half of children, as many as 40% have improved and continue to learn and acquire new skills to increase their quality of life. Providing treatment and continuing everyday intervention is a crucial factor for the child’s eventual achievement and can make the difference between lifetime hospitalization and assisted living.
For those children who continue; They enter a Post-Intensive treatment phase where weekly hours are reduced to approximately 6-20 hours per week and monthly supervision averages between 2-6 hours. This is often necessary because the child is usually attending school full time at this age.
Post-Intensive treatment focuses on a gradual shift in curriculum from accademics to functional skills, but deficit learner skills continue to be a major emphasis with children under the supervision of Autism & Aspergers Consulting, LLC.
Although the cost of an ABA program can be high, the cost of life lost due to inaction can be infinite. |
