SPECIAL EDUCATION

Special Education

Special Education

Common information states that parents whose progeny has been identified with autism should run not stroll to the closest therapist. Early intensive intervention, it is said, is the key to "optimal outcomes" for autistic children. Scientists have long renowned that the mind develops rapidly between the ages of none and three, which proposes that early intervention would be an perfect way to heal a childhood disorder. But is there any clues that this is actually the case? (Carr & Darcy, 1990; Myles, Simpson, Ormsbee, & Erikson, 1993; Roeyers, 1996)

 

Early Intervention Is Common Sense

            It makes sense to heal an autistic progeny as early as possible. The causes, though, are not research-based: they're straightforward widespread sense. Preschoolers have no other obligations, so their entire day can be dedicated to treatment (as are against to academics). Two-year-olds have couple of embedded customs, so it's somewhat so straightforward to halt contradictory behaviors before they become intractable. And very juvenile young children are ... very juvenile children. Even in the food shop shop, awful behaviors can be tolerated. Once a progeny is nine or 10, tantrums in a shop are easily unacceptable. (California Department of Education, 1997)

 

Early Intervention Works

            There's no question that autistic young children who undergo intensive intervention, be it behavioral or developmental, manage better than young children who don't. And there's absolutely no good cause to delay to supply such therapy. How well does such treatment work? That counts upon the child. As each one-by-one progeny has his own profile, natural forces, and trials, each progeny will have his own outcomes. But even a little advancement is far better than no one, particularly when that advancement arrives in the pattern of new connection abilities that permit a progeny to articulate his yearns and needs. (Anderson, Avery, DiPietro, Edwards, & Christian, 1987)

 

No Evidence That Earlier = Better While there are solid functional causes for early intervention, there are -- so far -- no study investigations that display that previous intervention boasts more wish of enhancement than subsequent intervention. In detail, Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology and Director of the University of Washington Autism Center, makes the next point: "For all we understand, a progeny with a developmental hold up may have a longer window of opening for growth. I believe it's not cooperative to alert parents in that way. I've glimpsed children who start late and rapidly apprehend up -- many of children with intensive early intervention who progressed gradually and then took off in elementary schools." (Schreibman & Koegel, 1996).

 

The Bottom Line: Walk, Don't Run, to Early Intervention

            Early intervention is apparently a good idea. But it's by no entails clear that the previous and more intensive the intervention, the better the outcome. Parents who hurry to early remedy with the wish that their progeny will rapidly "recover" from autism may be let down -- while parents who remained "too long" may glimpse amazingly affirmative outcomes. (McGee et ...