Choosing the Best Program for Your Child

Video Summary

Once a parent has been told that their child has an autism spectrum disorder, it is important to determine the child's strengths and weaknesses when choosing an appropriate intervention program. In all cases, the program must have a unified, cohesive team (which may include an educator, speech pathologist, physical therapist, etc) that actively works with the parents. The program should be interactive, accessible, and understandable to the principal caretakers since they have the most potential to make a significant impact on their child's development. Finally, the program should be data driven, accountable, and have an assessment tool to measure the child's progress as compared to a set baseline. Children with autism fall along a broad spectrum, each unique with particular characteristics. Thus, a successful program should be flexible and catered to each child in order to efficiently replace inappropriate behaviors with functional ones.