Can I use Psychological Intervention at home with my child; if so, how?
You are advised to work closely with your child's psychologist and do the therapies and exercises as advised by them and your other therapists, to achieve the best outcome.
Other Questions
What is Psychological Intervention?
Does my child need Psychological Intervention?
How does Psychological Intervention help my child with Autism?
What does Psychological Intervention include?
Which psychological assessments help detect my child with Autism?
How often does my child need Psychological Intervention?
At what age should I start Psychological Intervention for my child?
Who can provide Psychological Intervention for my child?
A trained clinical or counseling psychologist who has specialised in Autism Spectrum Disorders, should be able to provide Psychological Intervention for your child.
You can always go through our exhaustive database, to know about the clinical child psychologists that you can find near you.
Other Questions
What is Psychological Intervention?
Does my child need Psychological Intervention?
How does Psychological Intervention help my child with Autism?
What does Psychological Intervention include?
Which psychological assessments help detect my child with Autism?
How often does my child need Psychological Intervention?
At what age should I start Psychological Intervention for my child?
Can I use Psychological Intervention at home with my child; if so, how?
At what age should I start Psychological Intervention for my child?
Once you start noticing that your child's cognitive or developmental milestones, you are advised to take the first step towards psychological intervention, and visit your child psychologist so that they can advise you about the steps forward.
Other Questions
What is Psychological Intervention?
Does my child need Psychological Intervention?
How does Psychological Intervention help my child with Autism?
What does Psychological Intervention include?
Which psychological assessments help detect my child with Autism?
How often does my child need Psychological Intervention?
Who can provide Psychological Intervention for my child?
Can I use Psychological Intervention at home with my child; if so, how?
How often does my child need Psychological Intervention?
As Psychological Intervention works closely with other therapies, your psychologist would be the best person to suggest how often your child would need psychological intervention.
Other Questions
What is Psychological Intervention?
Does my child need Psychological Intervention?
How does Psychological Intervention help my child with Autism?
What does Psychological Intervention include?
Which psychological assessments help detect my child with Autism?
At what age should I start Psychological Intervention for my child?
Who can provide Psychological Intervention for my child?
Can I use Psychological Intervention at home with my child; if so, how?
Which psychological assessments help detect my child with Autism?
Psychological assessment refers to scientific methods psychologists often use to understand the human personality. The psychological assessment of children with autism requires multiple evaluators, using multiple methods of gathering information. Since ASD is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder, children with ASD benefit from an interdisciplinary team of diagnosticians and therapists, which could typically include, developmental pediatrician, a child psychiatrist, a psychologist, an occupational therapist, a speech and language pathologist, and a few others. This team of professionals carries out several assessments and tests, which pinpoints the exact areas in which the child has problem.
Your child's psychologist would first take a detailed history of your child's cognitive development, behavior, social functioning and family history. After the detailed history is taken, various psychological tests specifically designed for children with Autism would be conducted to evaluate their problems, assess the severity of their problems and to confirm the diagnosis. Then, together with you and your child, they would formulate a treatment program, according to your child's needs after which your child's progress would have to be monitored on a regular basis to ensure that their needs are met by the course of action, and adjustment is done if necessary.
The tests your psychologist would mostly do to detect and diagnose Autism are:
Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS):
The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) is a diagnostic assessment method that rates children on a scale from one to four for various criteria, ranging from normal to severe, and yields a composite score ranging from non-autistic to mildly autistic, moderately autistic, or severely autistic. The scale is used to observe and subjectively rate fifteen items.
Gilliam Autism Rating Scale-3rd edition (GARS-3):
The Gilliam Autism Rating Scale - 3rd edition (GARS-3) is based on the DSM-V definition of Autism Spectrum Disorder, and is one of the widely used assessments for diagnosis of Autism and estimating it's severity. This test consists of 56 clearly stated items grouped into six subscales Restrictive, Repetitive behaviors, Social Interaction, Social Communication, Emotional Responses, Cognitive Style and Maladaptive Speech. The test can be administered among people from age 3 years to 22 years.
Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ):
The Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) (formerly called the Autism Screening Questionnaire) is a screening tool designed to identify children who may be on the autism spectrum. The SCQ is designed to be used by parents or primary caregivers and is intended for use with children aged 4 years and above as long as his or her mental age exceeds 2 years. The score identifies individuals who may be on the autism spectrum and who should be referred for a more complete evaluation.
Malin's Intelligence Scale for Children (MISIC):
The Malin's Intelligence Scale for Children (MISIC) measures intelligent quotient, to identify learning disability and to identify cognitive problems (e.g. memory, attention, concentration, perception etc.) The test is administered for use with children from the age group 5 to 15 years.
Autism Diagnostic Observation Social (ADOS):
The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) is a semi-structured assessment of communication, social interaction, and play (or imaginative use of materials) for individuals suspected of having autism. The ADOS consists of four modules, each of which is appropriate for children and adults of differing developmental and language levels, ranging from nonverbal to verbally-fluent.
Other Questions
What is Psychological Intervention?
Does my child need Psychological Intervention?
How does Psychological Intervention help my child with Autism?
What does Psychological Intervention include?
How often does my child need Psychological Intervention?
At what age should I start Psychological Intervention for my child?
Who can provide Psychological Intervention for my child?
Can I use Psychological Intervention at home with my child; if so, how?
What does Psychological Intervention include?
When a psychologist diagnoses your child with ASD for the first time, they would typically perform a comprehensive evaluation, which works as a roadmap that identifies your child's strengths and the areas which need to be worked on.
Psychological intervention involves working on children with Autism to help them engage with others through play, and joint attention. School psychologists work with children with Autism of all ages. They help them to manage stress and handle bullies and general teasing. They work with both, children and adults who suffer from Anxiety, Depression and managing interpersonal relations.
Psychologists also work with parents to address the emotional issues they face due to their child's diagnosis. As the Autism Diagnosis is traumatic for many parents, they may experience excessive anxiety, fear, worry about their child's future.
The recommendations which your child's psychologist makes in terms of your child's cognitive, behavioral, emotional and academic needs, will help your child's ABA therapist, Special Educator, Occupational Therapist, etc., devise a tailor-made treatment plan which works on your child's strengths and accommodate his/her challenges.
Since ASD is a lifelong condition, the treatment plan needs to be altered with age, and needs to work around your child's key transition points, such as starting school, entering adolescence/puberty, or adulthood. A psychologist would work closely with you, as your child's family, to help with certain challenges which may arise as a result of these transitions, such as anxiety, mood disorders/depression, etc. The techniques could include modified cognitive behavioral therapy, which is a method that helps children with ASD change their negative thoughts and inappropriate behaviors.
They can also guide you about how to manage your child's sleep and feeding patterns, which usually coincide with ASD, along with providing social skill groups, to build and improve conversational skills, nonverbal communication and play.
Psychotherapy given individually to your child, as well as to you as his/her family, is also an aspect of psychological intervention. In adults with Autism, this may help with family and marital issues which may arise, as well as to improve life skills which would be needed for employment.
For children with more severe cognitive impairments, psychological interventions would also include techniques to reduce aggression, violence, self-injurious behavior, and improve compliance.
The basic idea of psychotherapy is to work with the child or the individual for them to function at their best and cope with the challenges which may arises for them on a day-to-day basis.
Other Questions
What is Psychological Intervention?
Does my child need Psychological Intervention?
How does Psychological Intervention help my child with Autism?
Which psychological assessments help detect my child with Autism?
How often does my child need Psychological Intervention?
At what age should I start Psychological Intervention for my child?
Who can provide Psychological Intervention for my child?
Can I use Psychological Intervention at home with my child; if so, how?
How does Psychological Intervention help my child with Autism?
It is essential to know your child's strengths and weaknesses, in order to devise a personalised teaching or training module for them. A clinical psychologist that specialises in ASD would be a able to do this for your child. Psychologists are able to use tests and scores to assess your child to diagnose their cognitive intellect, or the way your child perceives the world around him/her.
If your child shows strong visual processing, i.e. they are very good at assimilating visual information, rather than auditory information, i.e. the things which are said to them, your psychologist may advise you to provide your child with more visual cues, such as Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) to communicate and educate your child.
Similarly, assessments provided by the psychologist may also help understand your child's memory processing. For example, if your child doesn't have a strong short term memory, they may be able to hold only one or two bits of information, and may forget the other information provided to them at one go. Which is why, it is essential for you to know how much information you need to provide your child at one go, for them to be able to hold and practically apply that information, or instructions.
Psychological Intervention in Autism Spectrum Disorders, helps in studying your child's capacity of understanding and intellect, and working around it, in order to educate and communicate with them, for them to have a better quality of life.
Other Questions
What is Psychological Intervention?
Does my child need Psychological Intervention?
What does Psychological Intervention include?
Which psychological assessments help detect my child with Autism?
How often does my child need Psychological Intervention?
At what age should I start Psychological Intervention for my child?
Who can provide Psychological Intervention for my child?
Can I use Psychological Intervention at home with my child; if so, how?
Does my child need Psychological Intervention?
If your child's cognitive development doesn't seem age appropriate, and he/she shows signs of Autism Spectrum Disorders, such as delayed speech development, lack of, or fleeting eye contact, with lack of interest in playing or interacting with peers, repetitive gestures or certain stereotypical behaviors, echolalia, etc., you may be advised Psychological Intervention for your child.
Other Questions
What is Psychological Intervention?
How does Psychological Intervention help my child with Autism?
What does Psychological Intervention include?
Which psychological assessments help detect my child with Autism?
How often does my child need Psychological Intervention?
At what age should I start Psychological Intervention for my child?
Who can provide Psychological Intervention for my child?
Can I use Psychological Intervention at home with my child; if so, how?
What is Psychological Intervention?
Psychology and Autism Spectrum Disorder pretty much go hand in hand. Psychological Intervention is a collective term for the diagnostic and therapeutic aspect of approaching Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Clinical psychologists study a lot a about Child Development, and thus are well equipped to diagnose your child with Autism and advise and administer the appropriate interventions.
Other Questions
Does my child need Psychological Intervention?
How does Psychological Intervention help my child with Autism?
What does Psychological Intervention include?
Which psychological assessments help detect my child with Autism?
How often does my child need Psychological Intervention?
At what age should I start Psychological Intervention for my child?
Who can provide Psychological Intervention for my child?
Can I use Psychological Intervention at home with my child; if so, how?
