ASD and Early Intervention

Intervention is a program of therapies provided by professionals such as teachers, occupational therapists and speech therapists. Early intervention is the provision of these therapies to young children below the age of four.

Early intervention is crucial in the development of skills for children diagnosed with ASD. Itzchak, E. B., & Zachor, D. A. (2011) found that the earlier the intervention started the greater the outcomes were overall.

Early intervention is important because it has been found to decrease some of the challenging issues associated with ASD and children aged between 2 and 4 have been found to make more substantial progress than older children. Early intervention seeks to develop communication, social, cognitive and adaptive skills. (Rogers, S.J.1996).

These intensive interventions can help give children with ASD the tools to cope and interact in their daily life. These skills also allow them up to succeed in mainstream schools. The skills they learn can increase their learning potential exponentially.

I have seen the benefits of early intervention first hand. Over the past four years I have worked exclusively with children between the ages of 2 and 4 in an early intervention program designed specifically for children with ASD. The difference between these children from when they first arrived and when they graduated to school was nothing short of amazing.

Overall, these children were more prepared, capable and knowledgeable than they would have been without the intervention. In some instances they were more able to smoothly integrate into a school setting than some of their neuro-typical peers. In fact, on more than one occasion during supported transition periods, teachers commented that they wished all their prep students had had early intervention.

The Early AQtion program, delivered by Autism Queensland is a program specifically designed to cater for all children with ASD up to the ages of 4 or 5. Each student has an individual program designed to meet their needs and achieve their identified outcomes.

The following testimonials are from parents of students that I have had the immense pleasure of working with in the Early AQtion program.

Early intervention has given my boys the skills and confidence to make their own unique way in a world, which at times, could be quite overwhelming for them. They were able to transition smoothly into prep and have continued to blossom into happy and capable kids who love going to school

Nicole

Before my son started early intervention he couldn’t follow a one-step instruction and would rarely acknowledge his name. The specialised early intervention program was structured with the input of parents to meet the individual goals for each child. The wonderful teachers, aides and therapists involved with my son’s early intervention lived and breathed the saying, “if the child doesn’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.’ Two years of early intervention and my son was counting, writing, sorting, following instructions and interacting with his peers. I could not have asked for a better start to his education years – we wouldn’t be where we are today without early intervention.

Letitia

Before early intervention my son wouldn’t even make a sound, look at you, interact with others or communicate at all. After two years of early intervention he is a different boy. I didn’t think I would be able to send my son to school, but having the two years of early intervention, he is at school and thriving.

Katie

My son was almost completely lost in his own world until he started the early intervention program at Autism Qld. Today he continues to make amazing progress in a mainstream classroom. This would never have been possible without early intervention. I hope more parents can benefit from similar programs.

Miranda

Autism Queensland

https://autismqld.com.au/

References

Itzchak, E. B., & Zachor, D. A. (2011). Who benefits from early intervention in autism spectrum disorders?. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5(1), 345-350.

Rogers, S. J. (1996). Brief report: Early intervention in autism. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 26(2), 243-246.