Early intervention for toddlers with autism
As mentioned frequently the last week, Dawson et al has published a study on early intervention for toddlers with autism 18 – 30 months old. In their study they found that the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) was significantly more effective than the children in their control group that received what ever service was available where they lived. In addition to the importance on doing this study on very young children, it is great that they also measured autistic symptoms, in terms of diagnostic movement along the spectrum, in addition to the usual measures of adaptive function and intellectual functioning.
As there are now ways to identify children with autism spectrum disorder earlier and earlier as summarized by Barbaro & Dissanayake (2009) og Zwaigenbaum et al. (2009). And put together in the tool of Autism Observation Scale for Infants (AOSI) (Bryson et al., 2008). The need for research proven interventions are increasing.
I this matter the Dawson article is a great contribution, but of course more research on effective interventions are welcomed. And specially research comparing different interventions options. As the largest weakness of this study is a not clearly defined control group.
Related posts:
Recent Comments