Ways to help autistic children

Hattiesburg, Miss. - According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1/68 kids in the United States are autistic.

But the question many people are asking is, what can people do to help these children?

Dr. James Moore, University of Southern Miss's Director of Training for Applied Behavior Analysis said, "The answer is identifying them as early as possible. At the two-year-old well checkup, parents should communicate with their pediatrician if their child is not meeting certain language guidelines."

A child may be autistic if they don't respond to their name being called, if they don't repeat words others say to them, or if they don't have one word phrases.

Moore said "and that's so vitally important because what will start to happen is they'll start using other behaviors to manage their world."

Moore said autistic children can manage their world with actions such as tattering, non-compliance, and aggressive behaviors.

Moore said "if you can identify them and capture them with aggressive treatment before problem behavior starts, you have a real chance to not only avoid all of that, but to actually hear their voice."

According to research, if early intensive behavioral intervention is conducted by Applied Behavior Analysis therapists to an autistic child between the ages of 2-6 for 40 hours a week, then that will result in them being able to be more independent later on in life.

Moore said "they want to live in their own world and to a certain extent, they have a right to live in their own world, but we have a duty to help them learn to navigate the world the rest of us live in as well."

If you think your child has autism, set up an appointment with your doctor and try to find a local licensed Applied Behavior Analysis therapist.