On the Spectrum—Tips for Getting the Most Improvement in Autism Symptoms

In the last 20 years or so, the number of people diagnosed with autism has increased by 600 percent, making it so, as of 2014, approximately 1 in 68 people were on the autism spectrum. Boys are 4.5 times more likely to develop autism as girls, and those born to older parents or who have a sibling with an ASD are also more likely to have this condition. Research into this group of neurological disorders still has yet to discover the exact cause of autism, but it has found that some types of therapies and treatments are more likely to deliver significant improvements in symptoms. In some cases, people have even improved enough so that they can be considered no longer on the spectrum, although this is very rare.

Early Treatment

Children can be reliably diagnosed with an ASD by the age of two, which is important because the earlier treatment is started, the more improvements can be made developmentally. Some signs to watch for that might indicate a need to get your child evaluated include not playing "pretend" games; not being interested in or paying attention to people; having trouble expressing themselves; repeating actions or words over and over again; losing previously acquired developmental skills; preoccupation with certain, relatively narrow interests; a need for sameness; obsessive attachments to certain objects; and having issues with the way that things taste, feel, sound, look, or smell. Children under the age of three can get help from early intervention services and those three and older may be able to get services through their local school district.

Intensive Therapy

Children may only get a few hours per week of therapy from early intervention or other state-provided sources, but this may not be enough to get the most developmental benefits and improvement in symptoms. Research has shown that intensive therapy provides the greatest improvements, with more than 95 percent of those receiving the therapy showing improvements in symptoms. Intensive therapy often includes 25 to 40 hours of therapy per week, which can get expensive since autism treatment isn't covered by insurance in all states.

Type of Therapy

While not all children will respond to any one type of therapy, and some children may have little response to any of the recommended therapies, some stand out as potentially having better results than others. These include applied behavioral analysis, or ABA, which works best in children under five years old (but can be used for those of all ages) and involves using positive reinforcement to try to replace inappropriate behaviors with those that are more appropriate. Another potentially useful type of therapy is cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, which is often used in older children and adults. This method helps teach children with autism how to self-manage, helping them learn to manage their own behaviors by recognizing appropriate behaviors and rewarding themselves for using these behaviors instead of more inappropriate ones. Other types of interventions, including augmentative and alternative communication devices, the picture exchange communication system, and computer-aided construction can all help children with autism improve their communication skills and ability to learn necessary academic skills. For more information about therapy for autism, contact a provider like ABC Pediatric Therapy.