Low Cost Evidence Based Best Practice Treatment for Autism: Parental Involvement
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The best progress your child can make will in almost all situations include your own involvement; however, this is not something you should do on your own. It is essential you enlist the expert help and support from an appropriate consultant/coach. The next information will tell you want to look for AND provide resources for additional information.
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(The most effective treatments for autism, whether it’s a behavioral model such as ABA and EIBI (ABA model for young children with autism) or a developmental model such as DIR Floortime or P.L.A.Y. or a combination such as Denver will all require substantial parental (or other primary care provider such as a grandparent in some cases) involvement. This is the absolute truth whether you are talking about autism or a behavioral disorder not attributed to autism. In almost any case, if the parents or primary care providers are not intricately involved in learning and providing the therapy, even if there are great gains in one location or for a time, as soon as that therapy is gone, much of the gain is also gone. There are many reasons for this; but it is the truth. With substantial parental involvement too, the cost is often reduced.)
Functional vs Measurable Outcomes
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While we understand from research that more direct intervention from a professional does not necessarily mean better outcomes, that is not a common understanding for parents or providers. Many involved with autism treatment need a paradigm shift, a complete reframe to occur. The only way intervention will work within the framework of lower budgets is through this complete reorientation. The only evidence based best practice interventions which can be followed with fidelity and provide good outcomes for children will require significant parental (primary care provider) involvement. As has been noted in the past, anything else is a waste of money. Even children who make substantial gains in a center or school, if the intervention is not carried over to the home, almost always quickly digress and lose skills once the intervention has ceased.
And...
Quite often any acquired skills and/or improved behaviors are not carried over or are carried over only minimally to other environments.
Two well known experts on the subject, M'Lisa Shelden and Dathan Rush < http://www.coachinginearlychildhood.org/mlisa.php> have helped transition many service providers through this significant transformation.
While M’Lisa and Dathan are experts on infants and toddlers, the principles are the same and the research is similar for older children and teens.
Another expert in this new paradigm is Dr. Solomon with the P.L.A.Y., project.
My fear is that if we do not make this paradigm shift, quality of life for families and children will be lost when even more is cut from limited budgets.
My thoughts
CRP