Early Intervention Programs

Early intervention programs are a jump-start that focus on young children with ASD who may have the potential to acquire the skills necessary to be successfully integrated into a mainstream environment. The nature of this approach asks the child to acquire new skills quickly then challenges the child to generalize these skills rapidly across all settings and people (including peers). BIA’s Early Intervention Program consists of 6-30 hours per week of Direct Instructional Service (DIS) provided in the home of the young child and encompasses the entire 52 week year.

Why Home-Based?

A home-based program is demonstrated as the most effective method for delivering initial program services. Children diagnosed with ASD tend, in general, to be extremely sensitive to changes in the environment. A home-based program affords a child a known environment so that they are better able to focus on tasks at hand. In addition, parents, a vital component of effective programs are able to be intimately involved. Finally, the home setting provides the idea environment in which to generalize newly learned skills.

Program Delivery

Daily instruction is provided by a Program Implementer (Tutor) from 6-30 hours per week depending on the individual needs of the child and their responsiveness to the program. A Program Manager provides on-going supervision of the tutor, parent training and support and minor curriculum modifications from 3-9.5 hours per week depending on the intensity of the program. A Program Director provides 1-2.0 hours per week of curriculum design and child assessment and monitoring. Each member of the team is trained and employed by BIA.

A team consists of:

• Program Director (Behavior Planner/Designer): 1.0-2.0 hours per week
• Program Manager (Behavior Implementer II): 3.0-9.5 hours per week
• Program Implementer (Behavior Implementer I): 10.0-30.0 hours per week
• Other professionals (e.g., Occupational therapist, Speech Therapists, etc.)
• The family – Most Important!

The Family As a Team Member

The family of the child with ASD plays a critical role in the success of the program in some of the following ways:

• Maintaining a consistent standard of interaction with their child
• Integrating the program model into the family’s daily life
• Supplying program materials
• Open communication with team about child’s progress and areas of need

Comprehensive Program Curriculum

Programs focus on all areas of development from the acquisition of self-help skills to socialization with peers. The initial phase of the program focuses on learning readiness skills including; attending to tasks, responding to cues, learning basic imitation skills. These skills are pre-requisites for all learning and social interaction.

Language skills and concepts, socially appropriate behavior, play skills, academic skills and self-help skills constitute the curriculum. As progress is made, instruction is broadened to include social opportunities (peer playdates), community activities and participation in the least restrictive classroom setting. Programs are individualized to meet the child’s specific needs and pace of learning.

Categories of Goals

• Learning Readiness
• Speech, Language and Communication
• Cognitive Skills (Pre-Academic)
• Play Skills
• Social/Emotional Skills
• Motor Skills (Fine and Gross)
• Behavior Management
• Daily Living Skills

Transition to Group Settings

Classroom placement is a vital component of a successful program for every child. As the child progresses, the child’s environment is expanded to include several outside activities as well as placement in an appropriate classroom environment. The importance of generalizing skills learned at home to a classroom setting as well as teaching the child the skills necessary to ultimately learn new information in a classroom setting cannot be over-stated. If a child needs assistance with a particular aspect of a school placement, the BIA team can provide transition services, which are individualized depending on the needs of the child.

Initial Program Response

A majority of children initially respond favorably to the intensity and structured approach of a home program. From our experience, we have found that it is ineffective (and possibly harmful) to maintain an intensive number of 1:1 treatment hours beyond a full year for a child who does not demonstrate an appropriate rate of acquisition and generalization of skills. At that point, a child is primed to continue to learn but the intensity of the intervention needs to be better matched to long-term goals and tied more closely to the innate abilities of the child. In all circumstances, BIA provides a strong transition program designed to meet the needs of the child in their new placement as well as continued consultation upon request.