Therapy
for
Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD)

When it comes to therapy for autism, parents/caregivers are likely inundated with information from all sources pushing "most effective" methods. With competition between different providers, many of these services become increasingly commercialised in promotion unfortunately. As most parents will eventually come to understand, an autistic child's needs can be quite diverse, with no one-size-fits-all approach.

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When it comes to understanding or deciding what works best for your child, our advice is to find certified specialists in particular areas of need, rather than to find "generalists" that claim to be able to do everything. Below are some of the most common intervention services required by autistic children. Some might benefit from a combination of different services, while some might not need as many.

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To get more clarity on what might be appropriate, speak to a qualified professional, or get in touch with us for a free consultation. 

 

1. Speech and Language Therapy

One of the first challenges that parents notice for their autistic child is a challenge with developing language skills. Common reports early in the autistic child's life would be a speech (language) delay, or concerns that their child is not speaking yet despite their peers all already communicating verbally.

 

Communication is a vital part of early childhood development, making speech therapy essential to ensuring progress on the language development front. A common misconception to teaching language is that parents think speech therapists sit a child at a table to teach them single words. That cannot be further from the truth. Speech therapists work with autistic children to target various skills that allows a child to learn and glean language from their environment independently. This can include first working on pre-verbal skills such as joint attention, play and imitation skills.

 

Through interactive sessions, children then gradually learn to express themselves and engage with others in a back and forth fashion, whether through speech, gestures, or alternative communication methods.

 

Speech therapy for autistic children focuses on helping develop the ability to interact and communicate with others in a spontaneous fashion - as opposed to memorising scripts and regurgitating learnt phrases. This is fundamental to our approach in helping young children with autism learn how to engage with the world around them independently.

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2. Occupational Therapy

Occupational therapy helps autistic children develop the skills necessary for daily living. This includes many self-help skills such as toileting, dressing, grooming etc. Occupational therapists work to improve fine/gross motor skills, attentional skills, sensory processing, and self-care abilities.

 

In particular for many autistic children, occupational therapy is crucial in helping to navigate challenges associated with sensory processing. Our ability to feel comfortable is something so many of us take for granted, but of which can be an extremely challenging one for many autistic children. Without this ability to feel regulated and comfortable, many autistic children will find it very difficult to attend sufficiently to learn. This is this one of the most fundamental and basic areas for many autistic children to work on, before other learning can take place more effectively.

 

For many children, the speech therapist and occupational therapist work together in tandem to calibrate the goal targets in their session, ensuring an approach that considers all areas of development. At Dinosaur, we have experts from both disciplines on the team, that are able to communicate and discuss with each other regarding each child's challenges directly, allowing more effective collaboration.

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3. Early Intervention Programmes (EIP)

EIPs are group-based and emulate a school-like environment in intervention. They are more holistic in that they cover and consider a wider range of areas of development. This can range from learning toileting skills, to academic skills (e.g. writing, maths) to social communication. EIPs tend to be attended multiple times a week, in order to be able to cover most target areas, as well as to provide more routine and structure. 

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At Dinosaur School, we offer half-day, after-school and full-day options for the EIP. Our EIP involves therapy integration (from ST, OT) and provides ample opportunity to go out into the community to practice skills learnt. We do not believe in only being able to apply a skill in a very specific environment or setting, and always work towards generalising skills for our children.

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Similarly, our therapy team works closely with Dinosaur School to ensure a whole-team approach.

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3. Social Skills Training

Social interaction with others can be a significant challenge for many autistic children, with difficulties frequently persisting to their teens and adulthood. Our social skills training programs are designed to help children gain experience and practice on how to interact appropriately with peers, understand social cues, and engage in group activities. Emphasis is placed on raising social awareness, and to then process appropriate actions from there.

 

Our social skills groups aim to help our children feel more confident in social settings and form the basis for fostering meaningful relationships with others, independently.

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These groups are run by our certified Speech Therapists or Occupational Therapists, who are trained in the areas of social and pragmatic skills development.