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Autism is best managed when parents and doctors work together to recognize the warning signs
and begin a treatment plan as early as possible. There are a number o different treatment philosophies.
The main types include, developmental and behavioral approaches and also biomedical
treatment.
We'll briefly introduce you to each philosophy, but its important for you to talk to your
doctor or specialist about what's right for your child and family. This partnership
is the key to managing this condition. Many times families use a combination of treatments.
The developmental approaches entail teaching the autistic children certain skills to help
them move forward in life.
These skills include learning how to communicate better, create their own ideas and understand
what is happening in the environment around them. With these and other skills in place,
autistic children can develop further and reach key milestones.
Floortime is one of the types of the developmental approach. Under this technique, a parent or
therapist will use a child's interest to advance his or her skills. Behavioral approaches
often use a Reward System to produce positive actions from a child. The main type of behavioral
treatment is called ABA, or Applied Behavior Analysis.
The next approach, Biomedical Treatments focus on medication and diet. Medication can be
used to improve behaviors that interfere with learning. These include hyperactivity, violence
and obsessive compulsive behavior. However, the medications do not cure the core symptoms
or condition of autism.
The diet aspect of biomedical treatment is highly controversial and not all researchers
agree with how it works.
Finally there are other therapies that may be part of an overall treatment plan.
These include PECS, which uses pictures to teach children to communicate. Through the
telling of social stories, children learn about different life situations and how to
handle them. And Sensory Integrations helps children learn to manage their sensitivity
to light sound and touch.
No matter what approach you choose, the key to treating autism is early intervention.
Continuing research may help us learn more about the cause of autism and how to treat it.
Thank you for watching HealthiNation. Remember to know the signs of autism and take action
early. There are great programs out there that can help.
It can make all the difference in the world.