Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsGoals of TherapyCovered TherapiesNon-Covered TherapiesTherapies to Avoid
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Goals of Therapy
Covered Therapies
Non-Covered Therapies
Therapies to Avoid
There are therapies and medications that can help overcome many of these challenges. At the same time, some therapies and medications used for autism can cause harm. Knowing the difference can help you make informed choices as the parent or guardian of someone living with autism.
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Choosing Autism Treatment
For most families, choosing the best therapies for autism is a process of trial and error, with final decisions based on a variety of factors such as availability, cost, and the abilities, challenges, and interests of the autistic person.
There are plenty of options available, and many therapies that can work well for any given child.
Autism therapies, when paid for out of pocket, can be prohibitively expensive. Top-notch therapists can charge $60 to $100 per hour (in some cases more). And, with intensive behavioral interventions consisting of 20 to 40 hours of therapy per week, parents and guardians can easily spend $40,000 to $60,000 per year.
For many families, the “best” autism therapies are those that are both available and free or low-cost.
While there are literally dozens of options for autism therapy, only some are provided through schools or paid for through medical insurance. While these are not necessarily the only effective option, they tend to be the most popular for obvious reasons.
Medications
Some of the more commonly prescribed categories of drugs include:
In some cases, medication isn’t necessary, but when it is helpful, it can make a world of difference for an autistic child.
Be sure to work closely with a healthcare provider to monitor the medication’s effects. As with all types of treatment, what works well for one autistic person may not work well—or may even be harmful—for another.
Speech Therapy
Speech therapy aims to address several key domains:
Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapyfor autistic children is usually provided through the school and/or paid for through insurance. Today’s occupational therapists help children overcome a variety of developmental challenges to become more functional in social or school settings.
The goals of occupational therapy may include:
Physical Therapy
Physical therapists can work with children in a natural environment, such as a playground or gym, and help them build the physical skills they need to join in physical games. Most PT programs for children with autism focus on improving balance, coordination, and motor skills.
As useful as PT may be, there is not yet solid evidence that any particular therapy can improve movement skills in children with autism.
Applied Behavioral Analysis
Applied behavioral analysis (ABA)and related therapies are usually considered to be the “gold standard” of autism-specific treatment.Many school districts offer ABA classrooms or provide ABA therapists as part of the school’s disability program.
ABA can teach skills and behaviors that are critically important to success in school or work environments.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
For autistic children with low support needs, apsychologistcan help them sort out feelings, suggest techniques for handling frustrations, or otherwise help a child cope with the realities of an autism diagnosis. They do so through a technique calledcognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies how people think. It focuses on how emotions, creativity, and problem-solving abilities affect how and why you think the way you do.
With CBT, specific goals are set in advance and, with ongoing sessions, a person can start to identify and change thought patterns that lead to problematic feelings or behaviors. Research suggests that CBT may help ease anxiety and improve coping skills in people with autism.
Autism Therapies Worth Paying For
In some scenarios, an autistic child may be receiving therapies through school and/or health insurance, but you feel they’re not progressing at a reasonable rate. Or, you’ve watched the school therapists at work and feel that their approach is not the right fit.
In such cases, families may want to consider paying out-of-pocket for therapies that can be helpful depending on the family budget as well as the child’s interests and learning style.
Developmental Therapy
While behavioral therapies work on skills and behaviors, developmental therapies can help a child build emotional skills and relationships, expand abstract thinking, and bond with others.
Some of the best-regarded developmental therapies include:
Parents or guardians will have to pay for these therapies out of pocket at first, but the good news is that most parents or guardians will be able to provide the therapies themselves once they get the hang of how they work.
Social Skills Therapy
While some schools offer basicsocial skills therapy (SST), it’s a rare school that provides in-depth social thinking programs. Social thinking is tough for autistic children because it requires “theory of mind,” or the ability to imagine what another person might be thinking or feeling.
Ideally, the goals of SST should include:
There are many different SST programs available; it’s worthwhile to explore them before making a selection. The right social skills group can help a child make connections, build friendships, and establish a healthy social circle.
Arts Therapy
If a child is interested in music, visual arts, acting, or dancing, they may respond well toarts therapies. While families will likely have to pay out of pocket, some arts therapies help autistic children expand their boundaries and even build skills that can be used in settings such as band, drama club, or chorus.
Falling under the larger umbrella of arts therapies are:
Some low-cost or free programs tailored to autistic people may be held at local museums or theaters.
Animal Therapy
From hippotherapy (therapeutic horseback riding) to support animals and service dogs, animal therapy has been found to have a significant positive impact on autistic children.
Nutritional Support
In some cases, autistic children do have intolerances to certain foods. In other cases, they are just picky eaters who lack essential vitamins and minerals in their diets.
There is evidence that children with autism eat fewer fruits and vegetables and have a lower intake of calcium and protein than their neurotypical peers. They also tend to prefer sweet foods or high-carbohydrate foods like white bread, cakes, and cookies which increase the risk ofobesityanddiabetes. They also tend to consume less dairy, leading to high rates ofvitamin D deficiency.
It may be worth consulting with a dietitian to address nutritional deficiencies and to work with your child’s therapist to find ways to alter eating habits in children who tend to be resistant to change.
Autism Therapies to Avoid
Some of the “cures” are not only a waste of your money but may also put your child’s health at risk.
Chelation Therapy
Chelation therapyinvolves the use of intravenous chemicals that bind to metals in your body so that they can be eliminated in urine and stool.It is commonly used for people with lead or mercury poisoning but was offered as analternative form of treatment for autismback in the 1990s and early 2000s.
The rationale was based on a now-debunked claim that a mercury-based preservative used in vaccines, calledthimerasol, causes autism.There is currently no evidence that chelation therapy helps treat autism in any way and may only serve to place a child at risk of diarrhea, skin rashes, and liver toxicity.
In 2005, a child with autism died after undergoing botched chelation therapy.
MMS Enemas
Detox Baths and Other Hoaxes
Detoxifying bentonite clay baths are said to “draw toxins” out of autistic children, thus curing them of the disorder. Although less risky and less costly than other ineffective therapies, clay baths will simply make your child’s skin a bit smoother. They have no impact on autism.
A similar unproven autism treatment is raw camel milk. Not only have the benefits not been proven, but it exposes a child to an unregulated product that may not be pasteurized or pure.
The same goes forhyperbaric oxygen therapy, a device used for the treatment of decompression sickness in divers.This alternative treatment offers no benefits to people with autism and may place a child at risk of a ruptured eardrum. It also tends to be exceptionally costly.
Summary
There are other therapies you may opt to pay for out of pocket, including developmental therapies, social skills therapies, arts therapies, animal therapies, and nutritional support. Be wary of any treatment that claims to “cure” autism; there is no cure for autism.
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