Parents and professionals will often contemplate, what is the most effective treatment for my child or student with autism spectrum disorder? This can be a difficult question to answer because there is so much to take into consideration. Parents need to consider the best treatment for their child, but also something that will work for the entire family. Teachers need to take into consideration the other students in the room. As parents and teachers try to navigate the many treatment options for autism, they need to make informed decisions and think critically about the risks and benefits. While this is important for both parents and teachers, it can also feel overwhelming. Evidence based treatments give both parents and teachers the necessary information and knowledge to make decisions.
How is Evidence Based Treatment Effective?
Evidence based treatment means that multiple clinical research studies show the treatment to be effective. It is important that teachers and parents realize that when a treatment becomes evidence based it means that there is more than just one study that shows significant improves in skills or symptoms. Once teachers or parents start looking at the various evidence based treatment approaches, they need to continue to think critically and determine which treatment fits the needs of their child or classroom. Two important questions that teachers and parents need to ask themselves include: How many studies seem to support this treatment or therapy? What is the quality of the individual studies? Understanding the quality of studies can be overwhelming for parents and professionals. Luckily, there are a lot of great resources to help people understand and navigate the many evidence based treatment approaches. Here are a few organizations that outline various evidence based practices for autism: National Autism Center, the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Association for Science in Autism Treatment.
How We Understand Evidence Based Practices:
At InfiniTeach, we understand the importance of incorporating evidence based practices in our apps. We also know that parents and teachers do not always have the time to spend researching the various evidence based practices. We will spend the next few weeks telling you more about each of the evidence based practices involved in the app. Stay tuned!