A correlation has been proven between parents intervening in the communication with their autistic children and the severity of the symptoms. The reduction of the disease continued for approximately six years after the end of the treatment, according to a new study published in The Lancet.
The study was conducted by the University of Manchester, King's College London and Newcastle University (U.K.), and it was funded by the Medical Research Council. The purpose of the research was to come up with a long-term relationship between the causes of autism and the long-term effects of the symptoms associated with the disease. The results of the study are consistent with the U.K. guidance concerning early intervention as a means to suppress the aggravation of the symptoms.
According to the research, children who received intervention at the ages between 2 and 4 had milder overall symptoms in a six-years-time. As part of the benefits associated with this form of treatment, improved social communication and reduced repetitive behaviors were also observed.
However, there were no changes noticed in the levels of anxiety or language improvements. Despite of the treatment's proven efficiency, there still remain symptoms of the disease, and ongoing support is advised for long-term care of the pediatric patients, even as they get older.
"This type of early intervention is distinctive in being designed to work with parents to help improve parent-child communication at home," explained Professor Jonathan Green of The University of Manchester and Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, lead author of the study.
According to the researchers conducting the study, this form of treatment is, indeed highly effective, but cannot be considered as a cure, as symptoms will still show years after its start. However, early intervention should be focused on working with children's parents, who are the best to notice the patterns of disruptive communication symptoms and other associated marks.
According to the study, there were 152 participants to the study, who were traced and consented to be assessed between 2013 and 2014. Approximately 80 percent of the participants took part in the follow up. The severity of the diseases was measured with the international standard measure of autism symptoms, and children who addressed the issue earlier and involved their parents in the process had significantly better results in the aggressiveness of the symptoms.
The study started from the premise of other research in the field, which has stated that early intervention provides short-term symptom reduction in young children with autism, and has further proven that 12-month parent-medicated preschool intervention can bring sustained positive results, supporting long-term effects of the early intervention.
