ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) is a neurological disorder that affects people differently, in which the people within this spectrum have unique strengths & challenges in social communication, behavior & cognitive ability, hence the need for treatments/interventions that meet their specific needs. ASD affects someone’s speech, language development & social communication.
They also have speech problems in which some of them don’t talk, repeat what other say, have an unexpressive tone of voice & babble with word-like sounds, as well as communication problems such as trouble with conversational skills such as gestures & eye contact, trouble with an understanding of words outside the context, lack of creative language, little understanding of the meaning of words/symbols, and memorization of things heard without knowing what’s been said to them.
In addition, people with this disorder also have processing issues such as problems with their balance & body position in space, as well as oversensitivity to touch & feel which causes social, behavioral & attention problems.
To deal with the problems they faced, interventions such as social skills training, speech & occupational therapy reduce symptoms, improve their cognitive ability & daily living skills, as well as maximizing his/her ability to function & participate in their community.
Lots of people with autism go through various kinds of therapies in order to help them improve their abilities & reduce their symptoms associated with ASD, and it should start as soon once he/she is diagnosed with autism.
The most popular therapies include occupational therapy that helps with their daily living activities and use of everyday objects, speech therapy that helps with speaking, communicating & interacting with others and learn nonverbal skills such as eye contact.
in addition, using & understanding gestures, ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) therapy that uses rewards to reinforce positive behaviors & teach them new skills, social skills class that improve their interaction and forming bonds with others through role-playing/practice in order to improve their social skills, behavioral therapy that helps them to socialize with others & sensory integration therapy that’s used to regulate their reaction to external stimuli through activities such as brushing, touching & massaging, swinging, spinning on scooter & elbow & knee compressing.
ABA Therapy
ABA therapy is a therapy used to improve social communication & learning skills through positive reinforcement, and it’s the gold standard for treating people with autism since it meets their specific needs.
The types of ABA therapies include EIBI (Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention) that teaches communication, social interaction, functional & adaptive skills, DTT (Discrete Trial Training) that teaches skills through structured task completion & rewards, PRT (Pivotal Response Training) that enable their initiatives in learning activities, ESDM (Early Start Denver Model) which is a play-based activity incorporating several goals at once, & VBI (Verbal Behavioral Intervention)that improves their verbal & communication skills.
The therapists that treat them uncover the causes of certain behaviors to help the ones they treated change & improve, so they adapt approach based on their response to certain intervention in order to increase their interest in people around them, increase the effectiveness in communicating with others, enable them to learn to ask for something they want clearly & specifically, increase their focus, reduce/stop self-harming behavior & tantrums/other outbursts.
Speech therapy
It is a therapy that improves the overall communication & ability to form relationships & daily functioning, which leads to improved word articulation, verbal & nonverbal communication & understanding of them, improve understanding of others’ intentions, improved initiation in communication without prompts from others.
knowledge of when/where to say something such as saying good morning or thank you, development of conversational skills, exchange of ideas, development of relationship through communication, helping someone to enjoy communicating, playing & interacting with others & elevating their sense of self-control.
The techniques used in this therapy include electronic talkers, signing/typing, PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) that help them learn to communicate, use sounds over/undersensitive to them to expand & compress speech sounds, massage/exercise lips/facial muscles to improve their speech articulation, & sing composed songs to match the rhythm, stress & flow of sentences.
Occupational therapy
Last but not least is Occupational Therapy. It is a therapy that helps people with autism respond better to their surrounding environment through physical activities to develop their coordination & body awareness, play activities to help with their interaction & communication, developmental activities such as brushing their teeth or combing their hair, and adaptive strategies in order to help them cope with transitions.
The skills learned in this therapy include daily living skills such as toilet training skills & personal care (brush teeth, wash hands, etc), fine motor skills for holding objects such as writing or cutting with scissors, gross motor skills such as walking or climbing stairs, sitting, posture & perceptual skills such as the difference between colors, shapes & sizes, body awareness & its relationship to others.
Visual skills for reading & writing, as well as play, coping, self-help, problem-solving, communication & social skills, which leads to the development of peer & adult relationships, learning how to focus on tasks & delay gratification, express their feelings in more appropriate ways, engagement in play with others, & self-regulation.
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