The number of children diagnosed with autism continues to increase each year and recently has increased to one in 110 children. As a result of this increase, there has been a great effort to educate the medical community and educational professionals about autism. Although a child needs to be diagnosed by age three in order to meet criterion for autism based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM- IV), it is now common that children receive a diagnosis of autism by the age of two or possibly even younger if there is a sibling or other family member with autism.
Because of the intensive nature of early intervention, children often make great progress. The goal of early intervention is to remediate any areas of deficit so that the child is able to perform at the same level as his or her peers. It is hoped that if the intervention is provided intensively enough at a young age that the child will not need services when entering preschool or at least that he/she will need less services as he/she gets older.
Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention
Early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) is recommended for children with autism. This particular intervention has been shown to be effective for children with autism and is supported by research. By using EIBI, it is possible for the child to make gains in a variety of areas including cognitive, social skills, play, language and motor skills.
Research has shown that by using an intensive behavioral model of intervention that children with autism do better than if they had been provided a more eclectic approach to intervention (Howard, Sparkman, Cohen, Green & Stanislaw, 2005) In addition, it is important to have the family involved in the intervention to improve the efficacy of the intervention for the child.
Behaviorally-based Interventions for Autism
There are a number of behaviorally-based interventions that may be used with a young child with autism. There are a number of interventions that have either been derived from research in behavior analysis or that utilize a number of components of an intervention based in applied behavior analysis.
One such particular intervention is discrete trial instruction. Discrete trial instruction is an intervention that has been scientifically validated to be an effective intervention for young children with autism. Discrete trial instruction provides the learner with a great number of opportunities to practice a skill in a generally distraction-free environment. The skills are task-analyzed to promote success and the instructor collects data on student progress. In discrete trial instruction, the teacher is generally leading the instruction and has pre-determined curricular targets and student responses. When the student responds correctly, the instructor provides the student with behavior-specific praise along with a tangible reinforcer or a token to increase correct responding in the future.
As the child begins to progress, another intervention, referred to as incidental teaching, may be utilized with the student. Incidental teaching differs from discrete trial instruction in that it is typically student-led as the student initiates interest in an item in the environment and the instructor then uses that opportunity to promote further communication on the part of the learner.
Getting the Most out of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention
It is important that young children with autism receive a diagnosis as early as possible so that intervention can begin promptly. It is also important for parents to be included from the start in the intervention so that the intervention can be carried over and the child can generalize skills to new settings, people and situations. Lastly it will be important for the child to have a teacher who has experience using EIBI in order for the child to make the most progress possible. When using EIBI there are many times when a teacher or clinician needs to problem-solve in order to help the student to continue to make progress. It may be helpful to have an autism consultant who has a greater number of years of experience to provide support to the teacher as the student makes progress.
Reference:
Howard, Jane S., Coleen R. Sparkman, Howard G. Cohen, Gina Green, and Harold Stanislaw. “A Comparison of Intensive Behavior, Analytic, and Eclectic Treatments for Young Children with Autism.” Research in Developmental Disabilities 26 (2005): 359-383.
Mary McDonald - Dr. McDonald is an Assistant Professor in the CRSR Department (Counseling, Research, Special Education and Rehabilitation) and teaches in ...
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