How should a parent integrate different autism treatment strategies? How can a parent know whether an autism treatment strategy is right for their own child?
Discussion: In addition to the Floortime therapy, you may want to consider new and innovative interventions that are coming to the fore, suggests Dr. Greenspan. “No one intervention, no matter what the data, was tried out on your child. So, you’ll always have to come up with creative and innovative strategies.”
If something has been helpful to a lot of children, it may be helpful for your child; but, you always want to watch and observe. Never assume a strategy will be successful. Dr. Greenspan notes that “it’s critical to recognize that you’re always observing the effect of an intervention on a child” and that this is “especially important for medication and nutritional remedies.”
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The profile allows you to assess other innovative interventions too that are coming in or that are being tried. Again, no one intervention, no matter what the data on it is, it wasn’t tried out on your child. So you’ll always have to come up with creative and innovative strategies.
You have an n [sample size] of one. Obviously, if something has been helpful to a lot of children and has a lot of studies behind it, you have more reason to believe it may be helpful in this situation. But you have to watch and observe. Will it be helpful and not undermine the child’s functioning?
Sometimes there are things you want to try that have been tried but there aren’t enough studies yet. But you you feel that it’s safe and you want to give it a try anyhow. This gives you a way of observing whether it is going to be helpful. So it’s critical to recognize that you’re always observing the effect on a particular child regardless of the amount of studies being done because every child is unique and different.
I find it especially important with medications and a lot of nutritional remedies as well. Often they can be helpful but often they can have negative effects as well. We have to observe it in the child to find what’s going to work for that particular child.
Dr. Stanley Greenspan
Learn more about Dr. Stanley Greenspan and the Greenspan Floortime approach. If you are new, we have a background and introduction to Greenspan Floortime including how it helps special needs children. We also have Greenspan Floortime training courses at Floortime U. specifically designed for parents and professionals including the Floortime Manual.