We said how invaluable EarlyBird has been to our family, how much we have learned, how we are now more confident parents and how much better our family life is post-EarlyBird. I'm so glad we were able to do the programme, we both feel we have got so much out of it and wonder where we'd be now if we hadn't done it. The importance of early intervention Early intervention for children, as soon as possible after a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder, is considered essential and the involvement of parents has been shown to have a positive influence on outcomes. It appears that early intervention cannot cure autism but can minimise the build up of secondary behavioural problems. Early intervention bridges the gap between diagnosis and school placement.
Much early intervention is child focussed and education based.
Some early intervention is autism-specific. Certainly, the pre-school child with autistic spectrum disorder is likely to have somewhat different needs from children with other developmental disabilities, since the pattern of development in autism is likely to be different, rather than simply delayed. The underlying deficits of the triad and the accompanying sensory sensitivities mean that children with autism will benefit from specialist help, provided by professionals with experience of autistic spectrum disorder and an understanding of how people with autism experience the world. Ideally, both types of early intervention are needed. However, in practice, parents may encounter a kind of 'black hole' after diagnosis and may report being 'given the diagnosis and then just left to get on with it'.