¿Cuál es la mejor terapia para niños con autismo?

Las intervenciones y terapias más efectivas con frecuencia son diferentes para cada persona. La mayoría de las personas con ASD responde mejor a programas altamente estructurados y especializados. Las investigaciones muestran que el diagnóstico temprano y las intervenciones tempranas, como la etapa preescolar o antes, tienen más probabilidad de tener efectos positivos importantes en los síntomas y las habilidades adquiridas posteriormente. Tipos de terapia para el ASD Terapia de manejo de la conducta Terapia cognitivo-conductual Intervención temprana Terapias educativas y basadas en la escuela Terapia para mejorar la atención conjunta Tratamiento con medicamentos Terapia nutricional Terapia ocupacional Terapia mediada por los padres Fisioterapia Entrenamiento para el desarrollo de habilidades sociales Terapia del habla y del lenguaje Si tiene alguna pregunta sobre los tratamientos, hable con un profesional de la salud que se especialice en la atención de personas con ASD.

ABA therapy for autism Applied behavioral analysis (ABA) is the gold standard of ASD care. During ABA therapy, you and your child's therapist work together with your child. "This behavioral immersion technique has been shown to consistently be the single best approach," says Dr. Evans. "It's more than just speech or behavior therapy; it's immersive therapy. A therapist and parent work together with the child and provide continuous language and behavioral cues throughout the day, every day." ABA can be costly, but today more schools recognize its benefits and are beginning to provide this therapy. Insurance companies are also beginning to reimburse for this therapy, and Medicaid can pay for several hours of ABA therapy each week. Some programs also help train parents to provide ABA at home. These types of programs ask parents to commit to providing a certain number of hours of work or play time with their child. A therapist comes to the house to work with parents and their child, helping parents implement their own ABA. Speech therapy for autism Children with ASD may have trouble when speaking with others. There are therapists who work with your child just to build these skills. These therapists are called "speech-language pathologists" or SLPs. An SLP may meet with your child 1-2 times a week, often at school, to work on communication skills. "Most kids with ASD who speak, speak in a monotone," says Dr. Evans. "In speech therapy, they practice prosody or melody of speech. They practice how to come to a complete stop in a sentence. Speech therapy helps the child learn conversational speech." Occupational therapy for autism Occupational therapy can help children with ASD become more independent. An occupational therapist, or OT, will help your child with skills they need to do every day. This includes many things from buttoning their shirts to feeding themselves. Some children with ASD have sensory integration issues, such as difficulty with things like certain fabrics or loud noises. OTs can also help your child with these issues if needed. Physical therapy for autism Some children with ASD have problems with gross motor skills. Gross motor skills are used for walking, sitting and standing up, and other things we use our larger muscles for. Poor muscle tone may be present, mainly for children who have both ASD and epilepsy. Physical therapists help children build muscle and learn how to make big movements smoothly. You may be wondering about a natural or alternative therapy you heard about, such as B12 injections or "naturaceuticals." However, unless a therapy has been studied thoroughly, it is best to approach it with great caution. Dr. Evans says parents should be wary of any therapy that insurance does not cover or therapies with no peer-reviewed research. Peer-reviewed means an article, journal or book has been carefully assessed by many doctors. These doctors ensure the research was safe, well-designed and evidence-based. You can also talk with your child's doctor about any alternative therapy you may wonder about. They can give you some information on how well it has been researched.