Research: Early Behavioral Intervention, Brain Plasticity, and the Prevention of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Authored by Dawson, G. in Development and Psychopathology, Volume 20, Issue 3, p. 775-803, (2008).

Article summary (posted Aug 13, 2008):

Early intervention may be able to prevent autism.

This review article describes how it is possible to find infants who are at risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and provide therapy in order to prevent autism. The article focuses on early intensive behavioral therapy (such as applied behavior analysis - ABA) as a way to prevent and treat autism. Research now shows that between 75-95% of children who receive intensive behavioral intervention will speak by the age of five. The focus of early therapy is to alter the course of brain development. This happens as the infant moves and works within the parent-child bond.

Links:

You can access the original abstract and the complete paper is sometimes available for free via Google Scholar (look for entries that say "PDF" or "HTML" on the right side of the page).
applied behavior analysis (ABA), autism, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), early intervention (EI), focus, infant, intensive, intervention, parent, parent-child bond, plasticity, review article, therapy
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