How to treat Autism with DSP (developmental & social pragmatic therapies)?
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder which develop in early development period. This condition is characterized by the difficulties a child face with social communication like starting conversations, maintaining eye contact during conversation, child have restricted interests or sometime no interests in some tasks, and repetitive behaviors are also a core symptom in diagnosis of autism like hand flapping, spinning objects and toe walking. Till date in psychological researches, there is no “cure” for autism, but there are many treatments and therapeutic interventions which can help to treat autism to some extent. By these treatments the individuals can manage symptoms, these therapies can develop skills in a person to manage, and helps to improve quality of life.Therapies and medical treatments are planned according to the individual’s needs to treat autism.
what is Developmental & Social pragmatic therapy (DSP)?
Developmental and social pragmatic therapies focus on improving communication and language skills in children to treat autism. These therapies are based on everyday interactions and helps to develop social engagement in autistic child. The DSP is based on developmental psychology.
DIR/Floortime:Developmental, Individual differences and Relationship based model called DIR and also called floor time. This model encourages therapist and parents to follow the interest of individual to bring more communication opportunities. This technique mainly focuses on emotional and interpersonal development through play.
Social Skills Groups:Social skills groups provide opportunities to child with autism spectrum disorder to develop and practice social skills. These social skills are practiced in structured environment for example
- Groups are designed to perform specific activities like starting a group conversation, and taking turns this develop social communication skills in child for the treatment of autism.
- Social groups often include in peer interactions. Peer interactions is a social group interaction with peers who have same social communication difficulties. This helps to create more opportunities for social support and communication learning for the treatment of autism.
- PEERS (Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills) this is a evidence based social skills program designed to improve social responsiveness specially for teens and adults.
