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A Longitudinal Study of the Teacch Program in Different Settings: The Potential Benefits of Low Intensity Intervention in Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Abstract

We conducted a longitudinal study of 30 preschool children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) to evaluate the potential benefits of the Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH). Fifteen children following a low intensity TEACCH program were assessed four times for autism severity, adaptive functioning, language skills, maladaptive behaviors and parental stress and compared with a control group of 15 children following a non-specific approach. Findings suggest that a low intensity home and school TEACCH program may provide benefits for children with ASD by reducing autistic symptoms and maladaptive behaviors. Furthermore, a decrease in parental stress indicates that parents’ involvement in the rehabilitation program is a crucial factor and contributes greatly to treatment efficacy.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the families that participated in this study. The authors would also like to thank Laura Casula and Luciana Guerriero for their assistance in collecting the data. Some of this data were presented at AACAP’s 59th Annual Meeting, San Francisco CA, USA, October 23–28, 2012.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience, Children’s Hospital Bambino Gesù, Piazza Sant’Onofrio 4, 00165, Rome, Italy

    Lidia D’Elia, Giovanni Valeri & Stefano Vicari

  2. Autism Treatment Center “Tutti giù per terra ONLUS”, Via delle Fornaci 79, 00100, Rome, Italy

    Fabiana Sonnino & Ilaria Fontana

  3. CIBB Interdisciplinary Centre for Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, University of “Tor Vergata”, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133, Rome, Italy

    Alessia Mammone

Authors
  1. Lidia D’Elia
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  2. Giovanni Valeri
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  3. Fabiana Sonnino
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  4. Ilaria Fontana
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  5. Alessia Mammone
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  6. Stefano Vicari
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Correspondence to Lidia D’Elia.

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D’Elia, L., Valeri, G., Sonnino, F. et al. A Longitudinal Study of the Teacch Program in Different Settings: The Potential Benefits of Low Intensity Intervention in Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord 44, 615–626 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-013-1911-y

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