Autism Treatments – Questions You Should Ask Your Caregiver Before Selecting a Treatment Options
July 1, 2009
Autism treatments can help reduce the severity of symptoms in many children and some adults, but you must understand that there is no cure. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder where the child has an inability to have normal social interplay; they exhibit repetitive behaviors and have abnormalities in their verbal and non-verbal communication abilities. Autism treatments can only reduce the symptoms in some cases and allow the person to have a better quality of life. These are very worthwhile goals. Each child will deal with slightly different symptoms and so before getting involved in any programs you must first determine what your child’s needs are.
Before putting your child into any program perhaps you should ask yourself, and the caregivers, some of the following questions. These are guidelines suggested by autistic organizations.
1. Has the program helped other autistic children? If so, how?
2. Could the program do anything to harm my child?
3. Does the program use recognized methods to help autistic children?
4. Has this program helped other children be mainstreamed into regular school classes?
5. Does it give the child structure and predictable routines?
6. Will my child get enough one on one attention?
7. Is there a minimum of distractions so my child can remain focused?
8. Is this program designed to be one that can be continued at home and so give my child consistency?
9. Will some type of reward be given to help motivate my child?
10. How much will the program cost? Is there government assistance? What is the location of the program, its hours and expectations?
Once these questions are answered parents can begin to narrow down the search for the right program to meet their child’s needs. If the child is under three years old your health care provider will likely recommend beginning a program in the home or childcare location. These will be simple tasks to begin with that will use what the child is interested in to build on. This will hopefully allow the child to slowly make positive steps. Research has shown that the more parental involvement in the child’s autism treatments program the better the child does and the more progress they make.
When the child is a little older, over three years old, the school-based program will be designed specifically to fit the child’s needs. Routines will be maintained to allow the autistic child the structure that they crave. The child will learn by doing. They will repeat tasks until they are able to do them. There will be activities to promote body awareness and coordination. These will include doing simple puzzles or placing beads on a string. Asking for juice or to use the bathroom will be taught to promote language use. It will be a long hard task but with support and intervention from parents and family the child will learn.
If you think that there is “something not right” with your child you must find out as soon as possible if autism is the issue. Treatments are less effective with each passing day as we grow older, so find out now with the complete autism resource for determining symptoms and goes into depth about ALL treatment options for autism, natural AND medical. So do your family a favor and check out the information at Autism Symptoms.
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