"Early Therapy Can Change Brains…"

I am very curious about this article http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/31/health/autism-therapy-brain/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

“Early Therapy can change brains of kids with autism” is an article on cnn.com
I copied an excerpt from it, see below. I bolded the most intriguing part. I am not familiar with the ESDM method it discusses, so maybe I’m missing a vital element, but essentially it sounds like they taught the parents better ways to interact/play with their children, a la Greenspan’s “circles of communication”(LOVE GREENSPAN’S FLOOR-TIME!) or the Son-Rise program or other child-centered play therapies centered around enhancing development. I’d love to know more if anybody wants to share their own understanding of ESDM. Because it sounds less like therapy and more like empowering/educating parents on how to play/interact with their children in “therapeutic” ways. 

“It can be done just about anywhere, and Dawson says the play-based method of engaging a child helps him or her develop a social relationship.
The study began with 48 children in Seattle and Sacramento, California, who were between who were between 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 years old. Half of the children received a total of 20 hours of ESDM therapy over five days a week.
But since parents can be taught the methods in just a few hours, they could engage their children using the ESDM method as well. The other half of the toddlers received community-based interventions, which included in some individual therapist sessions and some day care-based sessions. The number of hours spent with therapists was the same in both groups.”

Nov 01, 2012 | Category: Occupational Therapy | Comments: none