Parent training yields better results in behaviour of autistic children

Autistic children are often misunderstood by others as they react to situations differently and do not always fit in with the other kids. They are often made fun of as others do not understand what th

By: Editorial Team | | Published: May 3, 2015 1:29 pm

Tags: Autistic children Autistic spectrum disorder

Autistic children are often misunderstood by others as they react to situations differently and do not always fit in with the other kids. They are often made fun of as others do not understand what they feel. This can be quite daunting and make life more difficult for such kids. But they do have their own ways of dealing with it and moving forward in life. Here’s more on autism.

Children suffering from autism spectrum disorder show improved behaviour when their parents are trained with specific, structured strategies to manage tantrums, aggression, self-injury, and non-compliance, a new research has found. Defined by impaired social communication and repetitive behaviour, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a chronic condition that begins in early childhood. A new study has revealed that children with autism spectrum disorders have trouble integrating simultaneous information from their eyes and their ears.

‘Our study shows that parent training is also helpful for improving behavioural problems such as irritability and non-compliance in young children with ASD,’ said Denis Sukhodolsky, assistant professor at the Yale University in the US. The researchers randomly assigned 180 children between the ages of three and seven with ASD and behavioural problems to either a 24-week parent training program, or a 24-week parent education program. Can paternal sperm hold the clue to autism?

Parent education provided up-to-date and useful information about ASD, but no instruction on how to manage behavioural problems. ‘Both groups showed improvement, but parent training was superior on measures of disruptive and non-compliant behaviour,’ James Dziura, associate professor at Yale, pointed out. Video games may be good for children with autism.

The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

With inputs from IANS

Image source: Getty Images

Published : May 3, 2015 1:29 pm

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