by Guy Shahar
26th October, 2016
We don’t usually feature news on this site, but this is a significant exception. You may have seen extensive media coverage this morning of a new study that confirms how early intervention in autism based on communication-oriented therapy (as we advocate) can transform the quality of life of autistic children and unlock the potential for much more general development.
This is how The Guardian reported it today, and you can listen below to how it was covered by the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 this morning:
These findings are not a surprise to us. A big part of our purpose at the Transforming Autism Project is to raise public and professional awareness globally of the importance of this sort of intervention (to the extent that such therapies will be commonly available through mainstream health services worldwide), and to provide families with thorough training and support on how to put it into practice. As soon as we are able, we aim to open our first clinic in or near London which will provide an intensive and immersive programme for one family at a time to begin this important work with autistic toddlers and to give their families complete training in continuing to implement it at home following the programme. Ongoing support will be provided as the child grows.
It is based on the proven Reciprocal Play Therapy methodology of the Mifne Center, a clinic in Israel where our own family was treated 5 years ago, that has been extremely successful in turning around the lives of very many families globally with autistic toddlers (and sometimes babies) by using this therapy.
We are clearly at the start of a very positive wave where there appears to be a growing openness to this message that has been dismissed for very many years. Our goal is to fuel that wave and make sure that as many children’s lives as possible are transformed by it.
One thought on “Autism Early Intervention Proven Critical”
Hi, my 6 years old son was diagnosed with Autism and recently started ABA therapy. There are still a lot I do not know about Autism and found you tedxtalk which brought me here. I am in Kingston Jamaica. We have extremely little resources for Autism. My son is now being rejected by his school. This is due to the limitation in koniwledge and resources.
I say this to say, how far has this program reach in getting to the UK? What would be the challenges to get it to Jamaica. The last statistics I could find for Jamaica, is that 1 in every 68 children born is diagnosed with Autism. From what I am experiencing with my son, there are so many kids here that are suffering simply because of lack of knowledge and resources. These kids are being labeled by their parents, teachers and peers as “bad” or “difficult” children. So I really want to find away to help them, to help our nation. Especially those kids who are considered “high functioning” as is my son and are often times misunderstood.