Effective Practices and Interventions at Home
There is no cure for autism. However, children with autism who receive intensive, individualized interventions early in life often see positive effects and tremendous growth. Most professionals agree that the earlier the intervention, the better.
There are many different treatments and interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorders, but not every treatment works for every person. Most individuals with ASD receive multiple interventions from a number of different providers in several service delivery systems. It is important to match a treatment or intervention with the needs and strengths of your child. Treatment options include educational and behavioral interventions, medications, and other therapies. Before deciding on a treatment for your child, learn and research the different options, discuss them with your child’s doctor and specialists, and think about what will work best for your family. Whatever treatment you decide on, keep in mind that intervention outcomes are significantly enhanced when professionals and families collaborate and when parents play an active role in implementing and coordinating interventions.
Evidence-Based Interventions
Evidence-based interventions are intentional interventions that have been researched and demonstrate proven behavioral change. Efficacy of evidence-based interventions must be established through peer-reviewed research in scientific journals. These interventions are determined effective based on professional judgment, data-based decision making, the capacity to successfully implement the intervention, and the values and preferences of families and individuals with ASD.
How to evaluate research and interventions
The following is a list of effective evidence-based interventions that have been gathered from the National Autism Center, The National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders and the Missouri Autism Guidelines Initiative.
Prior to implementation of any intervention at home, consult with professionals and receive training if necessary to ensure adequate implementation.
Naturalistic Intervention (NI) is a collection of practices including environmental arrangement and interaction techniques based on applied behavior analysis principles. According to the evidence-based studies, this intervention has been effective for toddlers (0-2 years) to elementary school-age learners (6-11 years) with ASD. NI can be used effectively to address social, communication, behavior, joint attention, play, and academic skills.
Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is used to teach learners to communicate in a social context. Using PECS, learners are initially taught to give a picture of a desired item to a communicative partner in exchange for the item. There are six phases of PECS instruction: (1) “how” to communicate, (2) distance and persistence, (3) picture discrimination, (4) sentence structure, (5) responsive requesting, and (6) commenting. According to the evidence-based studies, this intervention has been effective for preschoolers (3-5 years) to middle school-age learners (12-14 years) with ASD. PECS can be used effectively to address social, communication, and joint attention skills.
Social narratives (SN) are interventions that describe social situations in some detail by highlighting relevant cues and offering examples of appropriate responding. According to the evidence-based studies, this intervention has been effective for preschoolers (3-5 years) to high school-age learners (15-18 years) with ASD. SN can be used effectively to address social, communication, behavior, joint attention, play, school-readiness, academic, and adaptive skills.
Video modeling (VM) is a method of instruction that uses video recording and display equipment to provide a visual model of the targeted behavior or skill. According to the evidence-based studies, this intervention has been effective for toddlers (0-2 years) to young adults (19–22) years with ASD. VM can be used effectively to address social, communication, behavior, joint attention, play, cognitive, school-readiness, academic, motor, adaptive, and vocational skills.
Visual supports (VS) are concrete cues that provide information about an activity, routine, or expectation. Visual supports can also be used to support skill demonstration. According to the evidence-based studies, this intervention has been effective for toddlers (0-2 years) to young adults (19-22 years) with ASD. Visual supports can be used effectively to address social, communication, behavior, play, cognitive, school-readiness, academic, motor, and adaptive skills.