Topic > Behavioral Therapy and Early Intervention for Better Outcomes

Index CASE VIGNETTE CLINICAL EVALUATION/IMPRESSION CASE CONCEPTUALIZATION INTERVENTION PLAN SUMMARY “Autism” or “autism spectrum disorder” is a neurological condition characterized by impairments in interaction social, communication difficulties, and repetitive or stereotyped patterns of interest or behavior that significantly interfere with an individual's normal functioning. There have been a wide variety of therapeutic approaches on the road to practice, but behavioral therapy remains one of the key foundations of psychological care and management for children or adults diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. New behavioral treatments (especially when applied during childhood) have shown great success in improving the social behavior of individuals with autism, whereas in the past autism was seen as a manageable disease with intensive support and structure. Medical and mental health professionals can identify signs of autism, help rule out other possible causes of the child's behavior, and refer the child to a specialist in behavior therapy, the most commonly applied behavior analysis, approach that has proven higher success rates. Behavioral interventions and techniques are designed to reduce problem behaviors and teach functional alternative behaviors using basic principles of behavior change. These methods are based on behavioral/operant learning principles; they involve examining the antecedents that cause a certain behavior, along with the consequences that follow that behavior, and then making adjustments in this chain to increase desired behaviors and/or decrease inappropriate ones. Behavioral interventions range from discrete one-on-one rehearsal instructions to naturalistic approaches that focus only on communication or replacing maladaptive behaviors used for communication. Behavior modification techniques could therefore be used effectively to regulate the behavior patterns of young children in order to improve their future living conditions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayCASE VIGNETTEM. A 1-year-8-month-old girl was brought to the clinic complaining of age-inappropriate speech and language, stubbornness/tantrums, bruxism, inappropriate social interaction, stereotyped behavior, inattention, lack of concentration, and impaired motor functioning. The child was the second child of a non-consanguineous union. His father, 35, is a farmer; and the 28-year-old mother is a housewife. He has a 12 year old older brother. The child lives with her parents in a nuclear family structure. There was an unspecified history of mental illness in both the child's paternal and maternal families. The child has a normal birth history, as reported. His mother's age at the time of conception was approximately 26 years. Fetal movements were reported to be active and regular prenatal check-ups were performed. The mother had an episode of severe abdominal pain in the third trimester which subsequently resulted in hospitalization. He was a full-time LSCS. The immediate birth cry was present. Color at birth was normal and birth weight was 2,500 kg. The child was breastfed and vaccinated as scheduled. Apart from a respiratory infection that occurred at the age of 3 months, no history of significant physical illness was reported during the periodpostnatal. It was reported that the child's motor development was normal up to 7 months, but delays have been observed since then. The child spoke her first word at age 1, but has not yet made any progress in the fundamental stages of speech and language. She may recognize her mother and respond to her name when called; but he did not engage in any type of age-appropriate social interaction. He did not maintain eye contact with others and seemed to be disinterested in the people and events around. She has been very close to her mother and depends on her for all activities of daily living. The child likes to play, but prefers solitary play. His attention span was very short and after a while he could no longer concentrate on the game. CLINICAL EVALUATION/IMPRESSION In the clinical evaluation conducted at the age of 1 year and 8 months, the child appeared to have inappropriate development for her age. According to his scores on the Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS), he was reported to have a social quotient of 60 corresponding to a social age of 1 year. This implied that he had a mild delay in social and adaptive functioning. According to the results of the developmental screening test (DST), he was found to have a developmental quotient of 65 corresponding to a developmental age of 1 year and 1 month. This showed that she was also having a slight developmental delay. And the CARS result indicates a moderate level of autism. However, based on her clinical symptoms and preliminary evaluation, she was provisionally diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. CASE CONCEPTUALIZATION Based on the theory of behaviorism, the child was identified as having some maladaptive behavior patterns that needed to be addressed immediately. His stubbornness, outbursts of anger, lack of attention and stereotypical behaviors have been considered the fundamental psychological patterns that induce a malfunctioning model. The principles of reinforcement and associative learning have been taken as the main tools to address such maladaptive behaviors. The age of the child and the client's immediate goals were the primary determinants of the suggested treatment approach. INTERVENTION PLANS As the child was reported to have characteristics of autism spectrum disorder, a modern behaviourist approach was undertaken towards managing the disorders, including stubbornness and tantrums. , stereotypical behaviors and other behavioral problems. Because he was less than 2 years old, there were some limitations in developing the intervention plan. However, the treatment plan was structured according to the behavioral therapy framework, relying exclusively on the principles of secondary reinforcement provided based on a fixed ratio scale. “Suggestion” has been adopted as the primary method to facilitate therapy. Secondary reinforcement refers to a situation in which a stimulus reinforces a behavior after having previously been associated with a primary reinforcer or a stimulus that satisfies basic survival instinct such as food, drink, and clothing. In this case, secondary reinforcers were provided if the child exhibited desirable behaviors, such as less stubbornness/irritability, or if she behaved according to simple instructions provided by the therapist or mother. Prompts were given (a prompt could be defined as a signal or suggestion that could be used to induce a particular behavior or action) to teach the child certain behavioral patterns (e.g., he must obey his mother if he wants to. The mother does not he would take her until she stops crying and banging her head unnecessarily.