Early Intervention

Early Intervention for children who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder provides a continuum of care that includes evaluation, school consultation, clinic-based intervention and home-based program development.

Emphasis is placed on improving communication and social interactions and reducing barriers to learning. This program is appropriate for children ages 2–10 who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder or other developmental disability. Children move through the program based on their individual needs.

The Early Intervention Program is located at the Munroe-Meyer Institute, serving children ages 2-10 diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

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Program Focus

In addition to replacing problem behavior, this program focuses on improving:

• Daily living skills (e.g., potty training).
• Language skills.
• Pre-academic and academic skills.
• Social skills.

Program Steps

Clients vary in functioning levels. Some children are in the initial stages of learning while others display advanced language skills but exhibit deficits in social interactions with peers. The first step is to evaluate your child's strengths and identify areas of greatest need.

Initial Evaluation

Children are seen by a team of specialists with training and expertise in behavioral interventions. Some children may benefit from highly intensive early intervention, while other children may only require limited visits to our clinic or consultation between our staff and school personnel. Our goal is to identify a number of developmental and behavioral procedures that will result in the most rapid acquisition of targeted skills.

Program Selection

Children with autism spectrum disorder may not acquire skills through daily interactions in their home or school environment like many of their typically developing peers. Based on the needs of each child, our staff will develop a program of language, social, pre-academic, academic and daily living skills. To effectively teach children with autism spectrum disorder, tasks are broken down into small, measurable units, and each skill is practiced repeatedly until the child masters it.

Treatment

During therapy sessions, evidence-based strategies are used to teach a variety of skills. Trained therapists conduct behavioral procedures based on behavior-analytic and developmental principles. Programs take place across settings ranging from individualized work at a desk to naturalistic play interactions with adults and/or peers. Progress is continuously monitored as data are graphed, reviewed and analyzed by therapists and supervising psychologists. Data are used to guide program development and refine interventions.

Generalization

Once skills are mastered, they are practiced periodically to make sure children maintain them. Each skill is practiced in different settings to ensure the skill occurs in a variety of environments and with a variety of people.

Caregiver Training

Once an effective treatment is developed, parents and caregivers are trained on how to use it. Long-term success of the treatment depends on how accurately the program is carried out by parents, teachers, in-home aides, and other caregivers. To facilitate accurate use of the treatment, caregiver training includes written and spoken instruction, modeling, role-play and feedback.