AST: Finding right autism treatment can greatly impact child's progress and future quality of life

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Dec 18 2009

Autism Spectrum Therapies (AST), an agency providing behavior therapy and other autism services throughout Southern California, offers practical tips for parents on selecting the best autism service provider for their child.

"Finding the right autism treatment can greatly impact a child's progress and future quality of life," noted William Frea, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Chief Clinical Officer and co-founder of AST. "It is critical to start intervention as early as possible, ideally as soon as there is any suspicion of developmental delay as much can be done to get a child back onto a typical developmental track."

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is the most well-researched and scientifically-validated method for treating autism. Parents are advised to look for service providers that use a blend of ABA-based strategies to ensure programs are collaborative, fun and make measurable progress. These types of programs are often family-focused and incorporate everyday home routines.

Some important questions parents might consider asking when searching for an autism service provider:

Can you provide a basic developmental screening for autism?
Do you offer ABA-based therapy?
What specific activities can be done at home to support the child's progress?
Will your agency work with the child's teachers at school?
What happens during a typical treatment session and how many hours of therapy per week will the child need?
How involved will parents be in the day-to-day delivery of the child's program?
Do you provide weekly/monthly reports on the child's progress?

"It is extremely important for parents to find an established agency with experienced and qualified staff members," Dr. Frea advised. "Parents should thoroughly research any potential agency. Find out what the therapists' qualifications are for ABA and if their child's program will be supervised by a Master's-level staff member."

Dr. Frea's complete list of tips and questions for parents when selecting an autism service provider can be found on the AST website http://www.autismtherapies.com/PDF/Selecting_a_Service_Provider_Tip_sheet.jpg.

SOURCE Autism Spectrum Therapies

Posted in: Child Health News | Medical Condition News

Tags: Autism, Research

Comments (3)

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Therapy generalization

Mary Beth Palo says:

December 18, 2009 at 10:07 AM

In addition to the therapy, the qualifications of the agency and therapist, the method of measurement, etcc... It is important to not that therapy and skill acquisition will only be as good as how well it is generalized. Generalization of the skill is essential for a skill to be utilized in real life. For this to happen, therapy needs to include generalization of the skills and should also include parent training to teach the parent to generalize the skill. There are many methods of teaching that can enhance ABA and generalization of skills. I encourage parents to press the issue of skill generalization.
mb palo www.watchmelearn.com

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And...help them to become healthier

Martin Matthews says:

December 22, 2009 at 6:22 PM

Parents of children with autism are learning that food choices can help their sons and daughters become healthier and reach their full potential. In addition to traditional behavioral therapy and other pharmaceutical treatments, pediatricians, researchers, and nutritionists increasingly recommend that parents implement autism diets, autism-specific nutrition, and specialized supplementation.

Event television's respected Dr. Oz recently said, "Some of the most promising treatments for autism come from changing the foods that the child is eating."

It’s important to understand that these diets are customized food-focused strategies of nutritional intervention for autism. Going from not considering the impact of food intake (standard American diet) to giving specialized attention (nutrition centered diet) is the key to promoting systemic healing through autism diets.

Most people who apply this strategy find it worthwhile.

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Hormones, preservatives, chemicals, oh my!

Marianna Johnston says:

December 22, 2009 at 7:32 PM

Although I am not a doctor or a nurse, but rather the mother of a child with autism, I have a theory about its' cause. Over the years, as we've evolved to live as a convenienced society, the human race has been ingesting copious amounts of hormones, preservatives, and chemicals present in food and everything else we take into our bodies. This also includes the concentrated timespan of vaccinations given to children. I believe there are individuals with sensitive physiological and neurological makeup who just do not tolerate these "alien" substances and have been "modified" somehow through the decades and thus autism has become the epidemic it is today. I have seen firsthand how wholesome, untampered food and environment can help children with autism. Also, the dangerous psychotropic medications doctors prescribe are killing our kids and awareness of this fact needs to come to light...

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