I just found this interesting article that discusses both ABA and DIR approaches to treatment.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1191852,00. html
That is very interesting. I can't believe that some people get those sorts of placements paid for by the state, though - wow. It's interesting that they're launching some imaging studies of the brain comparing and contrasting ABA vs. DIR kids.
What really kills me is that the wonderful Alpine school is in Paramus NJ, where I grew up! Now I live in Chicago area and there is nothing like that here!
I just figured I'd throw it out there because I with great interest have been following all of the threads on ABA and RDI, and with hindsight being 20-20 feeling like maybe I should have done more since we've never done ABA.
However, we have been in DIR based therapy based on the floortime model by Stanley Greenspan since C was 2 years old and have made amazing progress. I just don't hear much talk on this board about others having success with this model. It has done wonders for us.
Interesting article from Time magazine. My son didn't have this kind of early intervention option -- for one thing, he didn't get diagnosed until age 7 and for the other, schools specializing in autism are few and far between here in Norway. I get a good vibe from Stanley Greenspan and DIR, so hopefully getting evidence that it works will help make it a more widely-used technique.
Thanks for sharing the article.