Nesrhtens…..

I have just been reading the article “Early Behavioral Intervention, brain plasticity, and the prevention of autism spectrum disorders” published by Geraldine Dawson in Development and Psychopathology (number 20, 2008). This is as far as I rate it a extremely good article, pointing out several important issues regarding both identification and treatment of ASD. I really like the fact that this article give a good insight and start for strengthening the link between research about causes and the design and development of treatments for toddlers with autism.

I also find the prevention perspective quite interesting, but I think we have to look for cost and time efficient prevention strategies to succeed in this area. It´s not likely to be implemented as a prevention if the intervention is as comprehensive as the treatment for the actual disorders. So here I would like to point to the work done by Koegel and colleagues on Pivotal Response Interventions. The intervention really targeting the pivotal areas in autism, in a natural environment. But I also want to do some reading up on the Denver Model for toddlers mentioned in this article.

So it´s an article that should be read, and I really hope a lot of researchers and professionals will follow up many of the points made in this.

You can read more about Geraldine Dawson and her work here: http://faculty.washington.edu/dawson/GDawson.html; Autism Speaks

Related posts:

1. Infants and toddlers with autism spectrum disorders: Early Identification and early intervention
2. The effects of age and treatment intensity on behavioral intervention outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorders.
3. Special Report: Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention Based on Applied Behavior Analysis among Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders