Autism Home-Based Treatment of Young Children

Autism: Home-Based Treatment of Young Children

Over time, research findings have shown that behavioral intervention (intensive) instituted early enough impacts significantly on the trajectory (developmental) of children having autism. In a big way, such findings have informed quite a number of treatment programs targeting youngsters with autism. Some of the main approaches that have been adopted as far as the treatment of autism is concerned include the school-based approach, the center-based approach and the home-based approach. In this text, I concern myself with treatment (home-based) of children with autism.

According to Sheinkopf and Siegel (1998), parents and professionals have often encountered difficulties formulating appropriate treatment approaches for youngsters with autism. This is mainly as a result of the variations that exist when it comes to the treatment of the condition. Indeed, Sheinkopf and Siegel (1998) note that many children with autism end up receiving a cocktail of modalities in regard to treatment.

According to Volkmar et al. (2005), home-based treatment approaches comprise of programs in which the delivery of a significant portion of the initial instructional hours of a child is done at home. It can be noted that this definition sets apart home-based treatment from other programs i.e. The school-based approach or the center-based approach. In the latter approaches, the majority of the youngster's instructional hours take place in another setting other than the home setting. As Volkmar et al. (2005) note, youngsters with autism who access the home-based treatment are later on in the course of their treatment immersed in a school setting. This effectively facilitates their integration into a setting that is relatively normalized.

As I have mentioned above, the main characteristic of a home-based treatment approach remains that a significant amount of work (initial) with the youngster with autism is undertaken in the home setting. However, it should be noted that beyond this primary feature, there exists a wide range of variations in terms of service delivery including but not in any way limited to having parents avail instruction to the youngster with autism other than seeking the services of service providers. For instance, we can have some families relying entirely on service providers to deliver the child's instruction. In some other cases, parents choose to provide the child's entire instruction. This is more so the case in scenarios where a given family has limited resources effectively making it impossible for such a family to hire professional staff.

Home-based treatment approaches have quite a number of benefits in comparison to the school-based and the center-based approaches. For instance, for most children with autism, the need for consistent and intensive intervention cannot be overstated. This intervention consistency in is indeed what optimizes benefits (Volkmar et al. 2005). In such a case, each moment of the youngster's day can be infused with performance incentives as well as expectations and constant demands. Further, it can be noted that the level of control parents utilizing a home-based treatment approach have over the treatment of the child cannot be replicated in the case of the other approaches. In this case, parents are involved in the selection of the treatment team as well as the specific approach to treatment. This is often done by working hand-in-hand with a consultant.

According to Volkmar et al. (2005), parents have an intimate knowledge of the youngster suffering from autism. In such a case, this added knowledge may augur well with the treatment of the child. It should also be noted that with home-based treatment approaches, the idle time for the child with autism is significantly reduced. For instance, in this case, the child does not have to queue during meal times or even take a bus to school. Hence in a big way, home-based treatment approaches ensure that the child's available instructional time is maximized as the various essentials in this case i.e. toileting and naps are tailored to address the needs of that particular child. In a study conducted by Sheinkopf and Siegel (1998), it was found out that when it comes to the treatment of autism, intensive behavioral therapy (home-based) is more effective that the other treatment approaches. This is a view supported by Schopler and Mesibov (1984). Indeed, the study found out that when treatment was undertaken at home (away from a setting that comes across as being more controlled), positive therapeutic effects were identifiable.