Autism Therapy: inclusive education

The TEACCH program may be a useful approach in different settings (home, school, and residential) to help children with autism learn skills.

This study compared the treatment and education of children with autism using the TEACCH program versus an inclusive nonspecific program. Boys with autism and severe mental retardation were enrolled in one of 3 different programs over a 3 year period. Thirteen boys were enrolled in the natural-setting (NS-TEACCH; home and mainstream school) program, 11 boys in the residential (R-TEACCH) program, and 10 boys in the inclusive education-nonspecific (INSP) approach. Boys in either one of the TEACCH programs (NS or R) improved from baseline in 11 or more skills (for example, perception, fine motor, gross motor). Boys in the INSP showed improvement in perception only. Therefore, the TEACCH programs may be more helpful for children with autism than the nonspecific inclusive education program.