Treatment of Autism - Essay Example

Treatment of Autism Name Institution Treatment of Autism Development disorders refer to conditions that interfere with growth of certain traits in a person. These disorders may affect speech, social interaction or thinking. A child could suffer from one form of disorder or more than one. Early intervention is important to have the situation reversed and enable the child have normal development. There are various forms of disorders. For purposes of this paper the focus will be on autism (Frith, 1996). Autism is the most common form of disorder experienced among children the world over. Persons suffering this form of disorder have differences in the development of social skills, behavior, language and thinking. Symptoms that are present in this condition include delayed language development, problems in social interaction and restricted range of behaviours (Goldstein, 2002). Autism demonstrate itself in a child through unusual behaviors such as a child constantly picks quarrel with others, slaps them or head-banging them. The traits take different pattern across victims but in all cases, unusual behaviors are predominant (Houten, & Axelrod, 1993). There have been debates regarding the difference between autism and schizophrenia with the two being largely confused even by medics. However, the later has been seen to surpass to adulthood at much greater extent hence the two conditions are not grouped together. Studies are ongoing to totally distinguish the two, and establish causal factors for each (Goldstein, 2002). Researchers in medical field contend that autism is caused by differences in the development of brain and central nervous system. The real cause of these differences is largely unknown, but it is believed that they could be brought about by three things: infection, genetic inheritance or environmental factors (Goldstein, 2002). Various interventions are necessary to address this form of disorder. The paper herein will assess the effectiveness of play therapy as a form of intervention for children suffering from autism. The justification for the intervention is well exemplified and draws its basis from the fact that children are able to express themselves through the world of play rather than through words or verbal communication. The various games are explained and the reason behind the effectiveness. Applied behavior analysis is presented as an alternative form of intervention for autism. The emphasis is on its role in shaping and maintaining good behavior in a child who previously suffered from autism. Rationale behind its effectiveness is also extensively discussed in support argument. Finally a conclusion is drawn based on the discussion ensuing. Play therapy is an interpersonal process where curative powers of play are used to bail a patient out of psychological problems such as autism. These therapies may involve involvement in a social undertaking, assignment allocation constant communication in informal set ups and other interactive engagements. Therapists have applied the system to children who suffer developmental disorders to a meaningful outcome (Bratton & Ray, 2000). Play therapy has been reported to have capability to change behavior of children or what could be termed as behavior outcome. These changes are connected to the child’s inner self. Such include aspects are the basic disorders exhibited by victims of autism – poor social skills, communication problems and alignment to one (mostly unusual) behavior. Children with any or more of these traits have them effectively checked through the process of play therapy (Bratton & Ray, 2000). Case study method is a program where the child is taken to be the focus of the research. A combination of quantitative measures and practical measures are applied to give a truthful and objective position as to whether the intervention bore fruits or not (Carroll, 2000). The process of evaluation is undertaken regularly and consistently throughout the process of therapy. Continuous review enables to state clearly the extent to which the therapy was effective by ascertaining the far the intervention went according to expectations (Bratton & Ray, 2000). Parental involvement has been taunted as a significant factor that enhances the effectiveness of play therapy. One way a parent can be involved is to work alongside the person conducting the therapy where he/she also given a role. The higher the level of parental engagement the better would the outcome be expected to be. Parents could also be involved indirectly by only requiring them to provide vital background information about their child. Since the parent interacts with the child more closely it is easy to observe progress in child’s social skills, speech development and behavior in general (Carroll, 2000). Duration of therapy is a major determinant of the effectiveness of intervention. The higher the numbers of therapies, the higher are the chances that the intervention will be effective. There may not be a specified or optimal number of sessions that should be used but a reasoned judgment could fix one. This should be guided by the situation or condition of the victim, age, gender and the rate of response to therapy (Carroll, 2000). Also, an intervention could be the second, third or fourth in the life of the individual. In such circumstances it would be prudent to use higher number of therapies or take relatively longer duration to identify the causes for recurrence or what was not done right the previous session. If autism manifests itself through weird behavior, then correction at advanced age may not be effective (McConnell, 2002). Play therapists choose non-directive play therapy with an intention of making the mind of child look at life more broadly and enjoy engaging in different activities. However, there are certain conditions where this form of intervention does not bear meaningful results compared to other techniques. To achieve the best results for any for any therapy chosen, it would be prudent to seek as much background information as possible regarding the environmental factors that either caused autism or make it manifested at a larger magnitude. Parents are the single most reliable sources of such information (Carroll, 2000). In situations where parents of a child are not available or circumstances do not allow them to be having such information any reliable source would be asked to provide the same. Teachers could also provide significant information but may be not very basic since they interact with the child at a much later stage of his/her growth (Happe, 1995). Play theory works on the rationale that children are generally unable to put their feelings in words. It therefore, becomes difficult to extract information formally as it would be the case with adults. A child who suffers autism needs assistance of the society around him/her as well as a therapist. The medical methods of dealing with such situations could be available, but come only as second alternatives (O’Connor, 1983). One technique applied is the Feeling Word Game. The rationale is that children have difficulties expressing their feelings verbally. When guided in a word play their resistance is reduced and are able to mention those feelings they are generally unable to connect with (Kaduson & Schaefer, 1997). Rather than requiring the child to say directly what he/she feels the game allows them to express themselves in enjoyable manner. The sense of intimidation is eliminated making them express feelings they would feel threatened to mention in formal set ups. The result of this game is to enable therapist to learn the feelings that are internally hidden in a child (Kaduson & Schaefer, 2001). Color your life approach provides children with nonthreatening method of understanding circumstances. Children are made to color different sheets and are asked to relate colors with feelings. A child is also provided with plain sheets and asked to color them using colors that represent all feelings that he/she has had (O’Connor, 1983). This helps to identify the feelings that make the child behave abnormally, or have problems socializing with colleagues. Balloons anger is a technique that assists students to understand what anger is. Children are given an opportunity to get a visual picture of anger and the effects in can have on them and environment. They learn how emotions grow within the mind of a person and how reluctant the emotions are to get out. The training enhances children’s understanding of anger and best practices to have it released slowly and in a carefully managed way. Autism is greatly manifested through violence that results from inability to control anger (Kaduson & Schaefer, 1997). This intervention is hence meant to train the child handle anger more calmly. The game prepares the young kids for a strenuous life ahead where they have to be confronted with situations that make them angry. The way to go about it is not to avoid circumstances or to imagine how one will never get angry but to enhance sound management of anger (O’Connor, 1983). Beat the clock technique is used to improve the children’s self control and response mechanism. Children are trained how to respond to challenging situations that they have been overreacting on previously. This method of handling autism instills a sense of calmness upon a child (Bratton & Ray, 2000). Play therapy instigates responsiveness to the varied and unique needs of their growth and development. Abstract thought is not present among many children below the age of eleven. This thought is vital in developing speech and understanding of effective verbal expression. It follows therefore that while adults encode information in form of words, children express themselves in the world of play. Their attention and mind is so much into play such that a lot of feelings will be exemplified when they engage in it. Due to the significance of the knowledge regarding the source of developmental disorder, the therapist engages into a play game with the child and they both use it as their medium of communication. The symbols and actions that will be demonstrated by the child consciously or sub-consciously represent the inner feeling and perceptions of the child. The therapist out of training and experience will be able to decode that information and hence be in a position to address the problem identified (Bratton & Ray, 2000). Research studies in the field of play therapy have also shown that children in their normal way of playing have a great capacity to solve their problems (Bratton & Ray, 2000). For example, it is funny how a group of children will pick up a quarrel among themselves while playing. On their own motion they resolve it and continue with their play as if there was no disagreement in the first place. This argument underlines children’s ability to solve their own problems in the play set up. In the same way and spirit an assertion can be presented to suggest that children are likely to apply the same mechanisms to solve even other problems when playing. Such would unquestionably include psychological problems and trauma (Happe, 1995). Applied Behavior Analysis, on the other hand, involves analyzing how behavior can be analyzed according to the way it is rather than using the prejudices of culture or social experiences. It asserts that bad behaviors can be extinguished, good one be identified and reinforced among children. Reinforcing behavior involves persistent nurturing and training of children and assimilating them to do things that are considered right have qualified the test of moral validity and hence are appropriate to be passed over to next generation. In the final end uncouth behavior, such as one exemplified by victims of autism, is eliminated among children exhibit it and replaced with right frame of conduct and life style. Applied interventions deal with demonstrated response strategy of people towards various situations. It is a concern for the society towards the problems confronting people rather than work of research (Happe, 1995). Studies have shown that ABA is effective in teaching new skills and promoting behavior change among children with autism. When extensively implemented at early stages it works to correct autism without use of special services. Other studies have suggested its effectiveness in correcting undesirable behavior, as well as promoting social behavior, communication and learning (McConnell, 2002). ABA is also effective in maintaining behavior. In cases where the right behavior has been restored in a child previously suffering from autism, it would be important to maintain the behavior. Through ABC, the behavior is nurtured and gets embedded in the personality of the person of the child. Subsequent interactive programs further promote the child’s ability to relate with others, make and maintain friendship (Schwartz & Bilsky, 1990). Attitude formation that is propagated through a process of applied behavior gets instilled in the behavior of the person. Positive attitudes and perceptions towards life experiences become part of individual life (Smith, 1999). New skills are also best learned through the system of applied behavior analysis. This is because unlike knowledge that can be acquired in a class room setting, skills require nurturing through coordinated and systematic induction. Functional life skills are reinforced and new ones developed. An individual may acquire strong oratory skills, for example, out of interaction with therapists. Close relations with those who administer the intervention may be at a good position to identify talent that could be suppressed by autism. In this is identified at early stages of therapy administration a process of growing it can be conducted alongside the therapy procedures. This is vastly effective to improving the esteem, self confidence of the individual (McConnell, 2002). The intervention is also effective in transferring one behavior from one behavior to another. For instance, if a child is able to get well with neighbors but finds problems to fit in the school environment, the intervention can be applied to grow the child’s confidence in the face of school mates. Confidence in one field gets transferred to another field where the child has difficulties adopting thereby making him/her a more complete person (McConnell, 2002). When analyzing behavior, there must be enough and practical evidence to believe that behavior has been brought about by specific events. Basically it is the science that seeks to establish causes of behavior and behavior modification. Accountability in service delivery is the key to analyzing applied behavior (Goldstein, 2002). It follows therefore, that when a child suffers from autism, the first step would be to identify the specific causes of the condition and then devising strategy to modify the same. Where there is compelling evidence that autism has been inherited, then factors or circumstances that make the symptoms more observed are investigated (Happe, 1995). Analyzing behavior change also involves assessing the permanency of behavior. In this regard if a behavior pattern seems permanent then it is regarded as general. It would therefore be expected to be exhibited not by one individual alone but by group. If children in a certain locality are adept to a particular queer behavior then it cannot be defined as autism (Tobias, 2009). This is simply a leant code of conduct that can be corrected by eliminating the child from the locality or addressing the problem at society level (Yin & Knowlton, 2006). There are a number of suggested ways through which the effectiveness of applied behavior could be assessed. One such technique is graphic display. This is a feature that is present in almost every study of behavior. The assessment involves the extent of believability of observed behavior (Goldstein, 2002). There are significant challenges that present themselves in this approach regarding the question of differences in interpretation among reviewers, in respect to level of effectiveness resulting from intervention. Reasoning and comprehension of the knowledge emanating from various aspects of research will always vary due to differences in perceptions and sometimes personal bias or even prejudice (Smith, 1999). The disagreements may, however, prove important in arriving at more concerted answer. In a healthy state of disagreement, the stern test should be taken to a consensual validation until the most objective position is arrived at. Social validation approach refers to a set of formalized techniques devised for purposes of substantiating the effectiveness of an applied behavioral technology. The process of evaluating whether a particular application has borne intended results, a question is posed as to what the intended change was. From evaluating the outcome with respect to anticipated purposes for which the applications were implemented, the social significance of the goals and objectives of the study are well evaluated. From this the effectiveness can be ascertained. The appropriateness of the social procedures used could be assessed upon these outcomes – where if the procedure gave rise to effective outcome then it is passed as being appropriate. Finally the social importance of the effects is presented and put on record as piece of scholarly literature (Smith, 1999). Final assessment involves a cost benefit analysis of the procedures used in applied behavior. The system has been borrowed from economic application and is relatively new in the field of behavior analysis and studies in psychology. It involves both planning of activities and budgeting. Posing a critique of the justification of costs incurred in behavior analysis will enable researchers to assess their intended objectives against the effectiveness of the procedures presented (Goldstein, 2002). In conclusion, it is safe to state that there is strong case for both play therapy and applied behavior analysis as effective forms of intervention. Autism has been identified as the most common form of developmental disorder among children with around five children out of one thousand born showing traits of autism before their third birthday (Annan, et al., 2004). Play therapy edges the former in effectiveness due to some obvious reasons; children and play are inseparable. It means that a child who demonstrates violent behavior is unlikely to have good relations in formal ways of life. 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