5 therapies that work best for children with autism

Autism or autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder which affects a child’s social skills, verbal and non-verbal communication, it has no cure but can be managed well with therapies.

Debjani Arora | Published: September 17, 2018 1:09 pm

Therapies help to bring positive changes in autistic kids. © Shutterstock

Autism has no cure but with little help, it can be managed well and can promise a ray of hope for a better quality of life for both parents and kids. Here we talk about therapies that work best for kids who are diagnosed with autism or falls under the autism spectrum disorder. Autism or autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder which affects a child’s social skills, verbal and non-verbal communication. However, there are certain therapies that can help children with autism to bring out positive changes and help them to deal with their challenges in a better way. Here are a few of them:

Applied behavioural analysis: This therapy is one of the most widely used therapies for autistic kids and shows the promising result. The aim of the therapy is to break down simple tasks to help kids learn them. It is highly scientific in approach and teaches kids simple methods to bring positive changes in behaviour. The ABA principles and techniques can foster basic skills as looking, listening and imitating, as well as complex skills like reading, conversing and understanding another person’s perspective. ABA isn’t a one size fits all approach and has to be customized depending on the learner or the child’s extent of impairment. The therapy is designed to teach them basic skills like – communication, sociability, self-care, play and leisure, motor development and academic skills. The goal of the therapy is to ensure that children become independent and successful in both the short and long terms. This therapy is usually the first of the many therapies suggested bringing our improvement. Therapists recommend as many as 40 hours a week of therapy, often in a full-time, classroom-based program.

Verbal behaviour therapy: In this therapy, the therapist helps the child use words effectively and helps them express themselves better with words. Instead of pointing at things they want kids are able to use words to construct sentences to express their needs and desires. They are guided to use language the correct way.

Cognitive behaviour therapy: It is a type of psychological intervention used to change how people think and behave. CBT uses a variety of techniques to help people become more aware of how they think so that they can change how they think and therefore how they behave. There is a significant amount of high-quality research evidence to suggest that cognitive behavioural therapy may help reduce the symptoms of anxiety in some individuals with autism.

Relationship Development Intervention: Also known as RDI is an interactive parent and child-led approach that focuses on the difficulties of a child’s flexibility of thought, emotional regulation and perspective towards life in general. It is commonly used with parents trained by RDI consultants. Goals are set to develop skills related to interpersonal engagement, such as empathy and overall motivation to engage with others.

Alternative therapies: Some caregivers opt for an alternative therapy approach like acupressure or acupuncture to treat autism, but their effect is not clearly known, hence it is recommended that parents take the approach suggested by the doctor or paediatric psychologists after a detailed assessment. There are various innovations that have come up in the field of autism management. Recently a study has pointed out that drumming at least 60 minutes a week can benefit children diagnosed with autism improves movement control and social interaction. Art-Based Therapy is also gaining a lot of prominence in the area of treatment for autism. Art-Based Therapy or ABT is a non-verbal form of therapy which helps an autistic child to express and communicate through art. Autistic children cannot communicate with others. So art becomes the medium of communication. Children express their feelings like fear, happiness, sorrow and anger through colours and art. This therapy is very common in schools for special kids.

Published: September 17, 2018 1:09 pm

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