Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy of a structured institution-based teaching programme combined with family rehabilitation training in the treatment of childhood autism.
Methods: One hundred children with autism were divided into a combination therapy group (n=50) and a control group (n=50). The children in the control group received a structured institution-based teaching programme, and the children in the combination therapy group received a family rehabilitation training besides the structured institution-based teaching programme. Comparisons were made between the two groups by the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC) score, Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) score, and Chinese version of Psychoeducational Profile (C-PEP) sore.
Results: After 12-months training, each dimension score and total score of ABC in the combination therapy group were all significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The combination therapy group had significantly lower dimension scores and total score of ATEC than the control group (P<0.05). Each dimension score and total score of C-PEP were significantly higher in the combination therapy than in the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusions: As an effective treatment mode for childhood autism, structured institution-based teaching programme combined with family rehabilitation training is worthy of clinical promotion and application.