Today, while
browsing my personal notes, I remembered some questions that parents of children living with ASD had asked
me when I first began my awareness program in Nigeria. I have decided to share
the answers to these questions here on my blog. The question I'll be dealing
with today is, "how many hours of intervention should my child
receive?"
A good way
to plan for a child's therapy would be to start with a weekly schedule. In this,
you'll have to consider how your child's day is spent. Try to provide a
reasonable balance between intensive therapy, periods of less intensive
activities that are still structured, and make allowance for your child's need
to have periods of free time and family time.
Research
shows that many children would do well with direct instruction of thirty or
more hours per week. This could be in form of one-on-one teaching. Parents should
also consider the quality of teaching and the degree of structure provided
outside the formal therapy hours.
The length
of the sessions for therapy could be kept between two and three hours, however,
it can also be adjusted to provide maximum benefit. In addition, play dates
should be used to generalize skills and provide opportunities for observational
learning.
