Early intervention may limit severity of autism symptoms

An early intervention for autism designed to help parents communicate better with their child has been shown to have an effect on reducing the severity of autism symptoms for six years after the end of treatment, research published in the Lancet shows.1

The study was a follow-up of the Preschool Autism Communication Trial (PACT), in which 152 children aged 2-4 years with autism were randomly assigned to receive an early intervention for 12 months or treatment as usual.2 The intervention involved one to one clinic sessions in which parent-child interactions were videoed. The recording was then played back to the parents, and the therapist worked with the parents to enhance their …