Early Intervention for the Child with Autism - Essay Example

of the English of the Concerned 18 July Early Intervention for the Child with Autism There is no denying the fact that parents can do a range of things to help the children with Autism deal with the challenges faced by them. However, when it comes to helping the children with Autism, it is also imperative for the parents to seek and avail all the support and guidance they need (Ross & Jolly 108). It is quite possible to help the autistic children deal with the issues faced by them through the extension of timely help and support. Being a well informed and an emotionally strong parent could go a long way in ameliorating the child with Autism. Many a times parents tend to evince a lot of worry when they learn that their child has Autism. This is because they know that their child faces specific challenges and may find it difficult to socially integrate and engage in learning, if not rendered a timely professional help and assistance. Certainly, it is natural to do so. However, Early Intervention could play a decisive role in the case of children with Autism. With the help and aid of Early Intervention, parents of children with Autism could relieve themselves of much indecisiveness and confusion. The very recognition of the fact that it is possible to help an autistic child in a professional manner that could help one deal with one’s problems in an effective way is in itself much relieving and hope giving. Hence, Early Intervention is vital for children with Autism, especially in the first few years of their life. Early Intervention not only facilitates the salient tools required to diagnose a child in the Autism Spectrum, but also plays a crucial role in facilitating the children with the requisite help and services that go a long way in helping them develop the necessary development skills (Ross & Jolly 159). It goes without saying that early intervention also divests the parents of children having autism of much stress and tension. It is a fact that autistic children tend to face some problems in life that are not faced by other children. Precisely speaking, the autistic children happen to face difficulties in three main areas of life that are issues associated with social interaction, the affiliated communication related difficulties and difficulties associated with the capacity for imagination. Autistic children do many a time find it difficult to learn to speak or to be able to carry on and sustain a conversation (Szatmari 138). Autistic children also find to difficult to share their feelings with others and in understanding the varied other aspects of social interaction like body language (Szatmari 138). Though many autistic children do evince a capacity to grasp facts and figures, yet when it comes to topics like politics and religion associated with complex ideas and language, they may find it difficult to grasp such issues (Szatmari 37). One other thing that has been seen in autistic children is that they evince an affiliation to a very narrow range of activities with which they engage in a repetitive manner (Szatmari 37). For instance they may develop a strong interest in a limited and narrow range of activities, may happen to be quiet inflexible in the matter of preferred activities and interests and may exhibit body movements that are repetitive. If not helped through early intervention, the autistic children may have to face secondary issues like behavioral problems that may pose multiple challenges, sensory problems, mental health issues, and sleep disorders (Szatmari 38). Thereby the main challenge faced by the parents and care givers of autistic children is to help them integrate in the society in a balanced and meaningful way. Therefore, much success depends as to how early an autistic child is subjected to intervention. Thereby early intervention could play a decisive role in enabling an autistic child to deal with the social, mental and communication issues faced by one. Hence, it is really important for the parents to know as to what is Early Intervention. Simply speaking, an Early Intervention program in the case of the children with Autism involves a special and structured approach towards educating the children with Autism right from an early age (Silverman 195). The whole objective of early intervention is to extend a professional help based on scientific research and knowledge to an autistic child, as early as possible, so that the child may develop the capacity and skills to deal with issues and problems one may face in life. It has been noticed that as compared to the children who get intervention at a late stage, children who begin intervention before they are 4 year old tend to evince a marked proficiency in their ability to adapt to the environment and to learn varied skills (Silverman 195). No doubt, in the light of this fact it is indeed imperative that an autistic child gets access to professional help, during the very nascent stage in one’s life. The experts tend to believe that Early Intervention should be commenced as soon as a child is diagnosed with Autism. Early Intervention not only arrests the decline in the intellectual development of the children with Autism, it has also been found to endow marked gain in the areas of deficit associated with Autism (Silverman 195). Hence, intensive Early Intervention could play a decisive role in helping the children with Autism across the Autism Spectrum, including the children who are diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and the children having other types of Autism related pervasive developmental disorders. The thing that needs to be understood is that though most of the children with Autism do have a common diagnostic label, yet the fact is that each child tends to vary in one’s individual needs and abilities (Autism Society 1). Every autistic child faces a unique set of issues and so do the families who need to care for an autistic child. Hence, Early Intervention is certainly not a generalized or standardized approach towards helping the children with Autism. Rather Early Intervention tends to be a customized approach towards helping the children with Autism that deals with the issues faced by a child with Autism, and responds to the preferences and needs of the specific families (Autism Society 1). Early Intervention entails a wide range of components designed to help the children with Autism overcome the issues faced by them. Early Intervention takes into consideration the development level of each individual child and facilitates a customized curriculum that tends to focus on the desired long term outcomes and addresses the deficit areas faced by a child (Autism Society 1). Early Intervention tends to be very innovative and pragmatic in its approach that benefits from the children’s natural propensity to respond and react to visual patterns, predictability, schedules and routines (Autism Society 1). It also needs to be mentioned that effective Early Intervention does require ample coordination between the family and the associated professionals. In the contemporary times Early Intervention also uses much technology and scientific tools and inputs. For the overall purpose of an Early Intervention is to extend care to the Autistic children at quiet a young age, when their cognitive faculties and brain are in the early stages of development and therefore could benefit most from any program designed to help them (Autism Society 1). Therefore, the earlier an Autistic child is exposed to Early Intervention, the more positive tend to be the outcomes. Thereby, nothing could replace Early Intervention as being the most preferred approach towards helping the Autistic children. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders happen to benefit much from Early Intervention. The children that are extended Early Intervention not only evince a better brain function, but also make much gain in their ability to communicate and to act and behave like other children (Autism Speaks 1). Early Intervention not only maximizes the desirable outcomes in children with Autism, but also allows them to show a high degree of independence (Autism Speaks 1). Early Intervention enhances the probability of an Autistic child to enter the mainstream general education. It reduces the service provision required by an Autistic child in the future. Early Intervention allows an Autistic child to be placed in a classroom setting that has a low student to instructor ratio and thereby enables one to gain maximum from the instruction and help being extended to one (Autism Society 1). It also allows the child to be taught in a relatively organized, structured and distraction free environment (Autism Society 1). The eventual goal of a viable Early Intervention is to prepare the child for the mainstream environment for Kindergarten. The salient philosophy behind Early Intervention is not to mould the child in consonance with the program, but to customize the program to meet the needs of the child. The goal is to help the child prepare for a regular learning environment. It goes without saying that the Autistic children tend to be children with special abilities and needs. Early Intervention is an approach towards educating and helping Autistic children at an early stage in their life when their cognitive abilities and the brain are more plastic, and thereby more conducive to being adapted as per the desired learning outcomes. Early Intervention pursues a customized approach towards helping Autistic children and facilitates to them an environment, which is more conducive to their special needs. It prepares the children to be able to adapt to a more mainstream learning environment. Works Cited Early Intervention. Autism Society. 2013. Web. 18 July 2013. Early Intervention Program Alters Brain Activity in Children with Autism. Autism Speaks. 2013. Web. 18 July 2013. Ross, Donna Satterlee & Jolly, Kelly Ann. That’s Life with Autism. London: Jessica Kingsley, 2008. Print. Szatmari, Peter. A Mind Apart: Understanding Children with Autism and Asperger Syndrome. New York: Guilford Press, 2004. Print. Silverman, Chloe. Understanding Autism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012. Print. Read More