Early Intervention
Early Intervention is a play-based treatment for toddlers or preschoolers who have autism or other developmental delays.
The focus of therapy for our younger clients (ages 1.5-6) is typically:
- Socialization
- Communication
- Decreasing tantrum behaviors
- Toilet Training
- Feeding
Our Early Intervention programs target skills that follow appropriate developmental milestones in a sequential order, allowing our youngest learners to build the foundational skills needed to continue to learn and grow as they transition to school. As clients get closer to school age, therapy begins to focus on the transition to new environments and the skills needed to thrive in them.
Therapy Sessions for Early Intervention include:
- Communication and social skills are taught through fun, interactive play and natural environment teaching (NET). It is essential to teach these skills in the natural environment and not only in the context of formal lessons, to enhance real-world applicability. Using familiar toys, games and materials increases engagement and promotes generalization of skills across different settings.
- For early learners, sessions will include a repetitive teaching format called discrete trial training (DTT). DTT involves breaking down skills into small parts. DTT is often used in sessions for children who are just beginning to develop basic skills. The structured nature of DTT helps establish a foundation for learning.
Therapy can take place:
- In the home
- At a daycare
- In the community
Parents and caregivers learn to:
- Communicate with their child
- Play and have fun with their child
- Decrease tantrums
- Track progress
We work with you to consider your goals, child’s needs, child’s age and developmental level to develop individualized treatment. Research shows that younger children have the best outcomes. The more we do now, the less we will need to do later.
We typically recommend:
- Between 15 and 25 hours per week may be recommended for children with Asperger’s Syndrome and sometimes although not always, referred to as High Functioning Autism, as well as children with difficulties initiating social interactions and inflexibility.
- Between 25 and 35 hours per week may be recommended for children with limited to narrow social interactions, and repetitive behaviors as well as children with severe deficits in verbal and nonverbal communication skills and difficulty with changing focus or following routines.
- Fewer hours than recommended may be provided if requested by the family. However, it is best to do more therapy while the child is young. Hours in therapy will decrease as the child gets older and learns more efficiently from everyday life.