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JULY 2004

Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Part II
By Cecelia M. McCarton, M.D.

The Diagnosis and Intervention Plan
A diagnosis is meaningless unless it is accompanied by an intervention plan. Referrals should be made immediately to the New York State Early Intervention Program (for children under the age of 3 years) or to The Board of Education district (for children 3 years of age or older).

Once all the assessments are done, they form the scaffolding for the actual intervention program. The intervention program must be comprehensive, multi-disciplinary, intense and consistent. It should begin immediately and be given for 6 to 7 days each week. Intervention programs for ASD usually consist of an educational component (ABA therapy, applied behavioral analysis), speech/language therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy.

The Family
For a child with ASD, the entire family is in need of assistance. Caring for a child with ASD is a daunting task. The personal challenges of the child along with mounting and managing a broad intervention program takes more hours than there are in a day. All intervention programs for the child should also have an intervention program (psychological help, respite, and parent training) for the family itself. If we fail to support the family, we lose the child.

The most important thing to remember is that ASD is not a hopeless disorder. More and more children are achieving skills and gains that were thought to be impossible 15 years ago. The work is intense, but each year the wall of what we thought we could achieve gets pushed back a little further.#

Dr. Cecelia M. McCarton is the founder of The McCarton Center and School for autistic children on East 82nd street in New York City.

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