EBD Blog

File this one in “things that work.”

In a smallish-but-well-done study, Geraldine Dawson and colleagues reported in Pediatrics that the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM)—a variant of the behavioral methods that have often been found to be effective—produced salutary benefits for young children with Autism. The children who received the ESDM intervention had significantly greater gains in IQ than those in a community treatment control and their social behavior kept pace with the standards for their non-disabled peers while the social behavior of the community controls declined relative to the standards.

OBJECTIVE To conduct a randomized, controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), a comprehensive developmental behavioral intervention, for improving outcomes of toddlers diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Continue reading ‘ESDM benefits toddlers’

Guillermo Montes and Jill S. Halterman examined the relationships among multiple measures of family financial health and having a child with Autism. Based on earlier documentation that childhood autism is correlated with increases in expenses and decreases in income, they found that “Childhood autism is associated with increased enrollment into school-based settings for preschool-aged children. Parents are 7 times more likely to report that child care problems substantially affected employment decisions if they have a child with ASD.”

BACKGROUND. The impact of childhood autism on parental employment is largely unknown.

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this work was to describe the child care arrangements of children with autism and to determine whether families of preschool-aged children with autism are more likely to report that child care arrangements affected employment compared with typically developing children and children at high risk for developmental problems.
Continue reading ‘Autism associated with family financial health’