Therapy: Behavioral vs Emotional Interventions
There are very few types of therapies for autism that are covered by insurance programs, but if you are lucky enough to have some extra resources there are many options that you can pay for privately or access through public education. I tend to think of these as being divided into two categories: treating behavior and treating emotions. Depending on your or your child’s goals, you will need to decide what programs are best for you.
Behavioral interventions include ABA, speech pathology, and physical therapy. Notably, these focus on actions that you or your child can take to reach their goals and improve their outcomes by changing some part of their/your behavior. ABA is the most common therapy received by autistic people, but it is not the only one by far. Speech and academic interventions can be found in most public school systems, and can be offered during school hours. ABA and physical therapy often are done outside of school hours, which can be an additional strain on the family system if the child is not able to commute to these services on their own.
Emotional interventions include psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and play therapy. All of these are done by a psychologist, therapist, or social worker and fall under the realm of mental health treatment that can be accessed by the majority of the population. Unlike behavioral interventions, these often do not require a diagnosis or referral to make an intake appointment. These types of interventions work to improve the client’s coping skills and reduce their mental health problems.
Ideally, all autistic people would have access to whatever services they want from either category. However, this is often not the case as individuals and families are limited by income and service availability. Personally, I would recommend people starting out with one program in each category and try to find the one that fits them the best. By addressing all aspects of the client, they can have a more holistic approach to their health that is known to benefit all members of the population, not just those who are autistic.
For more information about each of the interventions mentioned, check out the links below!
ABA: https://www.appliedbehavioranalysisedu.org/what-is-aba/
Speech Pathology: https://www.asha.org/public/who-are-speech-language-pathologists/
Physical Therapy: https://www.medicinenet.com/physical_therapy/definition.htm
Psychotherapy: https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/psychotherapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/cognitive-behavioral-therapy/about/pac-20384610
Play Therapy: https://cpt.unt.edu/what-is-play-therapy
