Drendrewolf Foundation
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Treatment Options
Also called "interventions", treatment options for autism vary, sometimes widely, in belief and methods. Below are brief explanations of these options with links to other sites that can offer a better and more up to date explanation of what they are.
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
A method of treatment and intervention that centers on studying an individual's natural responses and what triggers them, both the good (calming) and the bad (agitation). ABA teachers and therapists look for what causes an individual to display responses such as stimming (i.e. hand-flapping, chewing, spinning, etcetera) to meltdowns (i.e. screaming for no apparent reason, violent outbursts, head-banging, etcetera). They also look for the reasons an individual calms down or remains calm. Many other behaviors, such as speech, are also studied. The study is then applied to assisting the teachers and educators in scientifically correcting undesirable behaviors.
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Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication Handicapped CHildren (TEACCH)
Also called "Structured Teaching", concentrates on adapting the environment of the individual to meet their specific needs so that they may better understand the world around them, thus they may better interact with it.
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Floortime (DIR)
Also called the "Greenspan Method", centers on a child-led approach in which the teacher or therapist must create play opportunities through which the child may interact with others and the world around them.
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Relationship Development Intervention (RDI)
RDI is an intervention that encourages the child to attune themselves to social cues, facial expressions, and non-verbal language to direct and engage in social interactions and to learn about their environment. It teaches them to understand non-verbal communication, such as facial expressions, body language, and implied meaning. The teacher over-emphasizes these methods of communication while engaged in an activity that the child is interested in so that the child begins to understand non-verbal language and seeks that method of communication across different
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Pivotal Response Training
Children with developmental disabilities often receive interventions treating many different behaviors. The goal of pivotal response training is to target and treat pivotal behaviors that will produce simultaneous changes across many behaviors, instead of trying to tackle each individual behavior one at a time. This intervention focuses on efficiency when teaching skill acquisition, by identifying and teaching a child 'pivotal behaviors,' or behaviors that can be seen in multiple areas of functioning. By teaching pivotal behaviors in children, we are greatly increasing the child's functioning level because we are teaching a skill that directly effects the acquisition of multiple other skills.
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