Case study shows promise of lowering
costs for treating autism
Use of “responsive teaching” strategies
found to help autistic children with language, cognitive
and social-emotional development
April 21, 2005 | For more information: Jeff
Bendix 216-368-6070
Parents of autistic children can spend as much as $50,000 a year on
therapies for their children. But a new research study from Case Western
Reserve University’s Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences
shows promise of providing effective treatment for autism and other
developmental disorders at a far lower cost.
Gerald Mahoney, the Verna Houck Motto Professor for Families and Communities
and co-director of the Center on Intervention for Children and Families
at the Mandel School, and Frida Perales, a research associate, conducted
a year-long study of the effectiveness of “responsive teaching” strategies
for parents to help their autistic children develop and use pivotal
developmental behaviors. Responsive teaching strategies promote parent
interactions with their children through strategies such as “follow
the child’s lead” and “take one turn and wait.” The
results of their study appear in an article in the April 2005 issue
of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.
Mahoney and Perales compared the effects of the responsive teaching
strategies on 50 children and their mothers, divided into two groups:
children with pervasive developmental disorders, or PDDs (primarily
autism), and children with other types of developmental disorders. The
researchers investigated how these responsive teaching strategies helped
parents’ interaction with their children and improved children’s
development.
The study found that the responsive teaching strategies improved parents’ responsiveness
with their children, and were highly effective at enhancing children’s
developmental growth. Both groups of children made an overall 60 percent
increase in their rate of cognitive development and a 150 percent increase
in their rate of language development. The
technique was also effective at reducing the social/emotional problems
of the children with PDDs. “Although many professionals have speculated
that interventions that encourage parents to become more responsive
can be effective at promoting children’s socioemotional well-being,
this is the first long-term intervention study to actually demonstrate
this effect,” the authors write.
Equally important, the improvements occurred with an average of just
32 sessions with early intervention specialists, a relatively modest
level of contact. The annual average costs for such interventions are
about $5,000, a fraction of the annual costs of most existing interventions
for children with PDDs
The results also challenge the idea that only highly structured interventions
can help children with PDDs, say the authors, since the less-structured
procedures, which have aided the cognitive and language development
of children with developmental disabilities, address those same needs
in children with PDDs.
About Case Western Reserve University
Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826
and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western
Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research,
service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally
recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering,
Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.
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