Autistic children to learn family communication

A four-year trial of Pre-School Autism Communication has received 1.3m of funding from the Medical Research Council and will be conducted at the University of Manchester. It will study the effectiveness of a treatment to improve parent/child communication and develop the social and language skills of autistic children aged between two and five before they start school.

The families of 144 children in Manchester, Newcastle and London will attend fortnightly sessions with a communication therapist for six months to learn new ways of understanding and communicating with their autistic child, followed up with monthly booster meetings for a further six months.

Lead researcher Professor Jonathan Green said, 'Because the treatment helps communication, it improves a parent's sense of competence and involvement with their child, as well as the child's development. Parents from our focus groups have indicated that this is central to what they need from an intervention.

'This is the first large-scale intervention study of its kind in autism. We hope it will provide a new evidence base for autism service planning and help change the face of service provision both in the UK and overseas.'

The trial is being developed in collaboration with the National Autistic Society. Richard Mills, its director of research, said, 'The NAS is pleased to support this robust study. At present, the causes of autism are not known and there is no known cure. However, various interventions are available that can have a positive effect on the development of an individual with the disability.

'The trial will evaluate whether focused intervention, targeted at known core impairments of social communication in autism, adds anything over and above the routine interventions for the disability.'