Currently there are many ways to treat and intervene autism. When parents want their children to try other methods or learn about a new method, how to choose becomes a problem. This time, we have compiled some of the basis and ideas for choosing autism treatment and intervention methods for parents, hoping that it will be helpful to parents.
Some of the methods we are familiar with for the treatment and intervention of autism are safe and effective, such as turn-based teaching, structured teaching, etc., but because each child's situation has individual differences, the intervention effect for each child will be different. When the intervention effect of children is relatively average, many parents will want to change the method, or when they know a new method and feel that the effect is good, they will also give the idea of letting their children try it.
Parents should consider three points: Is this method or therapy meaningful? Is this method or therapy effective? Is this method or therapy safe? After getting the answers to these three points, parents also need to consider whether this method or therapy is suitable for their children.
First of all, regarding the significance of the method, parents are advised to consult the doctor. There are generally these four questions:
1. What is the function of this method or therapy;
2. Does this method or therapy supporter have a solid theoretical basis, and if so, does this theory make sense;
3. How does the method or therapy solve the symptoms of autistic children?
4. Who can this method or therapy help and who have no effect on it?
Secondly, it is a consideration of the effect. In this regard, parents can check whether the method is published in peer-reviewed scientific research journals with controlled experiments, whether it comes from meta-analysis and systematic reviews of multiple studies, whether it supports existing interventions based on the principles of applied behavioral analysis, as well as drug treatment and auxiliary medical technologies for specific behaviors or complications.
However, parents should pay attention to distinguishing when querying whether these data related to the method are based on word-of-mouth publicity or case studies, and be careful of therapies that are over-promoted but lack scientific evidence.
Finally, parents should figure out some issues in terms of whether the method is safe, including whether the method has or has any side effects? How much does it cost to adopt this method or therapy? Is there a potential harm in this approach or therapy? Will investment in this treatment prevent children from receiving more effective treatment?
When parents figure out these three points of the method or therapy (meaning, effect, and safety), it is also helpful for parents to judge whether the method or therapy is suitable for their children, thereby helping parents make choices.
