Medical Treatments

The second most common question after identifying where your child fits into the Autism Spectrum Disorder is, “What treatment is best for my child?” There are many available options yet each child’s case differs and each has different needs. There is no one specific treatment used for all children with autism, but here are some of the best researched and most popularly used:

1. Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Therapy

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a well-studied behavioral approach used to teach skills. It intensively focuses on reward-based training to teach particular skills.  Ask your insurer about ABA coverage and your child’s school about available educational supports.

The goal of ABA therapy is to develop the child’s ability to function independently in a variety of social situations and environments. Whether ABA is appropriate depends on the person’s needs and goals; discuss the options with qualified providers. If properly administered, ABA therapy can have a significant effect on the development of a child with autism.

2. Speech Therapy

People with autism usually have speech and communication disorders, which can be improved by undergoing speech therapy with a duly certified speech pathologist or therapist. Children in both the lower and higher ranges of the autism spectrum can benefit from this therapy.

A speech therapy session can be conducted in clinics, private settings, institutions, or schools.  A wide range of tools and procedures may be employed, from using toys for play-like therapies to giving formal tests using speech curricula. The therapist may work on a wide range of skills:

●        Non-verbal Communication is taught by using techniques such as gestural communication, PECS or picture exchange cards, electronic talking devices, and other non-verbal communication tools.

●        Speech Pragmatics teaches the child to know not only how to say words but also when, how, and to whom it has to be said.

●        Conversation Skills involve knowing how to participate in a joint-attention conversation.

●        Concept Skills are taught by the therapist in order for the child to understand the ideas behind words.

3. Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy helps children with autism develop skills that are useful for everyday living like handwriting, buttoning a shirt, or tying shoelaces. More complex skills such as sensory integration will also be taught depending on the child’s condition.  In general, occupational therapists focus on the social and personal skills needed for independent living. Some examples are:

●        Helping a child to better manage his body in space by engaging in activities such as swinging, brushing, playing, etc. By doing this, a child learns to respond to information coming through his senses.

●        Engaging the child in structured play therapies can develop and build intellectual, emotional, and physical skills. A good example of this technique is Floortime.

●        Helping children with ASD devise transition strategies to help deal with changes in the environment. Examples could include transitioning from home to school or going to a store.

●        Developing alternate strategies to replace disabilities. For example: teaching a person to use a keyboard if handwriting is impossible due to dexterity problems.

 4. Social Skills Therapy

Autistic people vary in their social communication skills and support needs. Some may have difficulty interpreting social cues or another person’s perspective; these difficulties do not mean that every autistic person is unable to understand other people’s feelings or intentions.  Social skills therapy focuses on improving a diagnosed child’s ability to interact appropriately with others.

The goal of social therapy might be described as helping a child with autism take part with other children. It teaches the child how to converse, play, work and share with others according to socially accepted norms.

Social therapy may be done in the classroom by a psychologist using game playing, sharing, and conversational practice. Before enrolling in an out-of-school social skills group, ask the provider about fees and your insurer about coverage.

5. Physical Therapy

Physical Therapy helps people with autism who have motor delays and have weak muscle tone to build up strength, coordination, and have basic sports skills.

6. Play Therapy

Learning to play is essential for children with autism as it also helps in developing their speech, communication, and social skills. Play therapists may use techniques such as Floortime or The Play Project in their sessions.

7. Behavior Therapy

This type of therapy analyzes a person with autism’s source of frustration and recommends changes to the environment and routines to improve behavior. Behavior therapists ease a child’s frustration from inability to communicate their needs; hypersensitivity to light, sound, or touch, and other acute behaviors.

8. Developmental Therapy

Developmental therapy is used to help increase the emotional, social, and intellectual abilities of a child. Often, this type of therapy is combined with behavioral therapy to best teach basic skills like tooth brushing or shoe tying.

The common treatments used in this type of therapy are Floortime, Son-rise, and Relationship Development Intervention (RDI).

9. Visually-Based Therapies

The Visually-based therapies make use of picture-based communication systems such as PECS (Picture Exchange Communication), video modeling, video games, and electronic communication systems, which can be very useful in building skills and communication for people with autism.

10. Biomedical Therapies

When this article was first written in 2011, some doctors trained in the Defeat Autism Now! (DAN!) approach prescribed special diets, supplements and other alternative treatments. None of these has FDA approval for autism, and DAN! itself was discontinued in 2011. Whether any diet, supplement or medication is right for your child is a conversation for your child’s doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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