The Treatment of Autistic Children

Abstract

The goals of treatment need to be decided on the basis of knowledge on the nature of autism. As with any developmental disorder, the first goal must be to foster normal development; with autistic children this involves a focus on intellectual, language and social development. The further goals include: the reduction of rigidity/stereotypy; the elimination of non-specific maladaptive behaviours; and alleviation of family distress. Research findings are used to translate these goals into a practical overall therapeutic programme with three main elements: a full diagnostic appraisal, special educational provision and a home-based programme for the family. Finally, the research findings are drawn together to derive inferences on the lessons to be learned and the questions that remain to be answered.

An Observational Study on Canine-assisted Play Therapy for Children with Autism: Move towards the Phrase of Manualization and Protocol Development

“…As stated by Fenichel (1976), "disorganized children need someone to organize their world for them……training that can bring order, stability and direction to minds that are disorganized, unstable and unpredictable" (p.220). Rutter (1985) supported this position and further suggested that psychosocial programs to remediate the social deficits of children with ASD should provide planned periods of structured social interaction. It is possible that the structured physical environment, visual support, steady and slowly switching, and notice about transitions in advance made the play context predictable and comprehensible, and therefore, the treatment did not stimuli their negative behaviors and autistic features.…”

Treating the core features of autism: Are we there yet?

“…The focus on biomedical causes (i.e., genetic, neurological) lead naturally to a search for medical treatments. In contrast, the focus on abnormalities in behavioral, emotional, and cognitive development lead to an emphasis on psychological or behavioral interventions [Rutter, 1985]. However, although both theoretical approaches make claims with respect to putative etiological and pathophysiologic factors, the pathogenesis of autism has remained largely unknown.…”

“…In autism, this core area is characterized by a variety of overt behavioral symptoms, including stereotyped motor behaviors (e.g., hand-flapping, body-rocking, object spinning), rituals and routines (e.g., ordering items or events, insisting on sameness), obsessional restricted interests (e.g., nonfunctional consuming interest in train schedules), and also a more general characteristic of rigidity/inflexibility and poor response to novelty [Rutter, 1985;Lewis and Bodfish 1999;Bodfish et al, 2000]. To date, the treatment of the repetitive behavior core features of autism has received far less study than the treatment of the social and communication deficits of autism.…”

“…Thus the pressing question when considering the body of treatment research studies in autism is-"Do available treatments alleviate the core features of autism?" This has been the central question in systematic reviews of autism and its treatment during the six decades which have now passed since Kanner's [1943] seminal work on the disorder [Eisenberg, 1956;Lockyer and Rutter, 1969;Kanner et al, 1972;Rutter, 1985;Bristol et al, 1996;Howlin et al, 2004]. Review of the large body of published autism treatment studies reveals two general areas with respect to the search for treatments for the core features of autism: (1) a variety of nonestablished treatments that frequently have been proposed as "cures" for the core features of autism but have largely escaped scientific validation and (2) the growing body of empirical evidence on a few forms of theory-based and empirically validated forms of treatment for the core features of autism.…”

Les critères diagnostiques de l’autisme et du syndrome d’Asperger : similitudes et différences

“…Parmi ceux qui acquiè-rent un langage, tous présentent des anomalies majeures du développe-ment de la parole telles l'écholalie immédiate ou retardée (APA, 1994), l'inversion des pronoms personnels (Rutter, 1978(Rutter, ,1985, des difficultés à utiliser des termes abstraits et à utiliser un langage métaphorique.…”