Effectiveness of Multidisciplinary Team Intervention in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Purpose: To analyze clinical outcomes in terms of functional changes in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), before and after receiving a Multidisciplinary Team Intervention Programme. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disability and is of public health importance. It affects not only the child but also the family. Methods: Structured multidisciplinary intervention, individualized to each child, was implemented in our child development center in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, in 2021-2022. Secondary data analysis of 38 children diagnosed with ASD, in the age group of 3 – 4 years, was conducted. All children received Behaviour Therapy, Speech Therapy, Occupational therapy, Special Education, Yoga, Group Therapy with Parental counselling, and Home Programme (Programme for the parents to work with the child at home along with the therapist). The average year of intervention was 1 year, sessions comprising 3 hours 45 minutes of Occupational therapy (5 days a week), 3 hours 45 minutes of Speech Therapy (5 days a week), Yoga once a week, Group Therapy once a week and once a week of Parental Counselling. Methods: Pre and Post-intervention, assessments were done every 3 months, tools used were Denver’s Developmental Screening Test (DDST), Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS), and Childhood Autism Rating Scale 3 (CARS 3). Results: Mean positive difference in CARS total scores through paired t-test was 0.0001 (p < 0.05), which was for the first 6 months of intervention and the mean difference between initial and re-evaluation after 6 months. The mean positive difference in CARS total scores through paired t-test was 0.0002 (p < 0.05), which was for the next 6 months of intervention, and the mean difference between re-evaluation 1 and re-evaluation 2 after another 6 months of intervention (total 1 year). Significant positive changes in functional ability were observed in most of the Domains (relating to people; Body use; Adaptation to Change; visual response; Fear of nervousness; non-verbal communication; level and consistency of intellectual response) and Paired t-test also showed significant positive changes. Conclusions: The Effectiveness of the Multidisciplinary Team Intervention approach, and adherence to its protocols have the potential to improve cognitive ability, social skills, Motor skills, and functional academic skills in children with ASD. Limitations: Results were not validated by tests that need parental reporting (e.g., DDST, CARS, and VSMS). Findings are all on the observations done during and post therapies.