Development of an intervention protocol for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder aged 6 – 12 years

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction and the presence of restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities which impacts an individual across lifespan. Early diagnosis and timely initiation of evidence based therapies have shown to optimize developmental outcomes. Children with autism spectrum disorder above 6 years of age require a different skill set than toddlers and pre-schoolers to deal with the socializing element of life and to better adapt to the forthcoming academic demands. However, studies on interventions in children with ASD have largely focused on early intervention in toddlers and preschool age children and only few have evaluated the interventions for children with ASD beyond 6 years of life.

As established by research, children with ASD are educable and outcomes depend on timely institution of early interventions. As these children transition from toddler and preschool ages to childhood, they face differing challenges and difficulties, requiring a change in intervention strategies. Involvement of families and caregivers is vital for enabling continuation of therapies especially in a resource limited country like India, where there is a shortage of trained therapists. Since there is a paucity of studies evaluating interventions and their outcomes specifically for children aged 6-12 years, this study was planned. We intend to develop a caregiver mediated intervention protocol for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder of age 6-12 years and compare its efficacy with standard care.