Does play raise IQ and cure autism?

[Guest guest]

What an interesting article/study. The question that arises to me is was it

that the play therapy was far superior to the traditional autism therapy for

these " very young " children diagnosed as autistic...or was it just that the

therapy for autism is only appropriate for children that are truly autistic and

these diagnosed as autistic but possibly not autistic children responded to the

play interaction vs ABA? Interesting that they credit the change in diagnosis

only to the intensive play therapy...and not even mention possibility of

MISDIAGNOSIS (I mean is it me or is that just beyond silly that the thought that

perhaps autism is being overdiagnosed is not even mentioned? What?

Professionals can't make mistakes?! Um Yes they can!!!)

To me when I read this article it teaches once again that inappropriate therapy

even in large amounts which most new parents take as a gift so will sign

whatever diagnosis including MR just to get services -is like a Monkey's Paw

gift.

Another question...is the following therapy (the play one not the ABA one)

typical of how most of us would play with our kids or is that just me???!!! If

it's not typical of you then this article shows just how powerful getting on the

floor and playing with all those new presents with your kids is!

Clips from article:

The program, called the Early Start Denver Model, or E.S.D.M., was part of a

two-year study of 48 children as young as 18 months old. Half the children

received the intensive therapy, while the rest received a community-based autism

intervention, according to a report in the journal Pediatrics.

While children in both groups improved, the gains were greater in the Early

Start program. At the conclusion of the study, the I.Q.'s of children who took

part in the E.S.D.M. program had improved by about 18 points, compared with a 4

point improvement in the other group. Children in the treatment group also

posted bigger gains in listening and comprehension skills. For seven of the

children in the treatment group, the improvements were pronounced enough to

warrant a change in diagnosis from autism to a milder condition, whereas only

one child in the community-based intervention group was given a less severe

diagnosis.

Q.

Can you explain how the new treatment is different from traditional methods used

to teach children with autism?

A.

Sure. A traditional way might be to say the word " ball. " The child is sitting at

the table, and the adult holds the ball and says: " Say ball. Say ball. " If the

child makes a sound that's kind of like ball, they hand them an M & M or juice or

a cracker. They do it again. " Say ball. " They want the child to say it a little

more clearly. If they do, the child receives a reinforcement. If not, the ball

goes away for a minute. If the child says something like " ba, " they get the

reward.

Q.

So how would you teach a child using this new method?

A.

In this interaction, there might be a little boy in a playroom with an adult.

There's a bucket of balls, and the adult is on the floor. The boy picks up a

ball, and the therapist picks up a ball. The therapist empties out the bucket.

Then she throws her ball into the bucket and says " ball. " He watches and throws.

She says " ball " again. She reaches in and picks up the ball and says, " Do you

want ball? " And she says, " ball, " and hands it to him. She picks up another ball

and throws it into the bucket.

Each time he says something, she gives him the ball. The two are playing a game

of throwing balls in a bucket. They throw to each other. They might be bouncing

the balls. There is a lot of variation going on. The therapist is using the

child's interest to get him focused on saying the word. Having the ball is a

reward for making sounds. She's also working on throwing skills.

All of this is going on while they are smiling and having a good time, rolling

it back and forth, practicing social play and turn taking. In this episode, you

see the child has lots of learning activities. It's the same thing the other

child is learning, but now he's doing it in a more meaningful way. He's

motivated to have it and say it. It's a rich learning situation that's a lot of

fun and motivated by a child's pleasure.

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Full articles

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/iq-boost-for-toddlers-with-autism/

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/peds.2009-0958v1

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