Twelve months of TEACCH-oriented habilitation on an Italian population of children with autism

Abstract

Autism is a severe disorder and it is important to implement targeted interventions designed on the strengths and needs of affected children in order to improve their daily life. In this sense, the TEACCH program (Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication handicapped CHildren) may be useful in autism. A longitudinal study was conducted in Italy to evaluate the effectiveness of our treatment and the best age to start a low-intensive TEACCH-oriented intervention. Twenty-eight children with autism were treated twice a week following the guidelines inspired by the TEACCH intervention. Developmental abilities were rated at baseline and after six and 12 months with the Psychoeducational Profile-Revised (PEP-R) scale. Developmental abilities significantly improved during the first 6 months with progressive amelioration throughout the 12-month follow-up period, particularly for children under 40 months of age. Specifically perception, motor skills, and cognition improved only in patients who begun the program before 60 months of age. This study shows that early low-intensive TEACCH habilitation is effective in improving developmental abilities in autism even after 6 months, particularly in patients at the very early stages of the disease. It is therefore crucial to begin the habilitation program in autism at the very early stage of the illness in order to maximize the effectiveness of the treatment.

Keywords:

• Rehabilitation
• Psychiatry
• Disability
• Psychoeducation
• PEP-R

This work was carried out in partial fulfillment of a PhD at the University of Udine by Dr. Fornasari. We thank Jessica Pellizzari for carefully revising the English language. This study was in part supported by grants from the Ministry of Health (Progetto Strategico entitled ‘Mental Health in Childhood and Adolescence: an investigation of biological and psychosocial risk factors, early indicators, and family burden indicators, in the development of evidence-based prevention and intervention models for severe mental illness’) to MM and to PB and by grants from the APIRE and from the IRCCS ‘E. Medea’ (Ricerca corrente) to PB.

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Notes on contributors

P Brambilla

Correspondence to: P. Brambilla, Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche Sperimentali e Cliniche, AOU, P.le Kolbe n. 3, 33100 Udine, Italy. Email: paolo.brambilla@ uniud.it