Effectiveness of Strength-Based intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Effectiveness of Strength-based Intervention
Name
Institution/ Affiliation
Effectiveness of Strength-based Intervention
Neurodevelopmental disorders, particularly autism spectrum disorders, have multifaceted effects not only on children but also in families, leading to a decrease in the quality of life. These disorders affect the nervous system's development, leading to abnormal cognitive function, affecting learning ability, emotion control, self-control, time management, and memory. Autistic Spectrum disorder (ASD) is a global health threat that affects children’s social interactions and communication, needless to mention the enormous financial burden it causes to the country and caregivers (World Health Organization, 2020).
The prevalence of ASD has multiplied in the past decade across all racial, ethnic, and social-economic groups. According to the World Health Organisation (2020), one in every 160 children has ASD. In the United States, one in every 54 children has ASD (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020). Research shows that prevalence will keep rising due to greater awareness, environmental influences, metabolic imbalances, genetic mutations, improved reporting, better diagnostic tools, and expansion of diagnostic criteria (Shochet et al., 2020). With this in mind, it is essential to develop and implement approaches such as strength-based intervention to improve the quality of life of children suffering from these disorders.
Common approaches for autistic children emphasize cognitive, social, and behavioral insufficiencies but fails to examine strengths. Frequently, the community’s predisposition towards children focuses on autism instead of the whole kid (Duan et al, 2019). Autistic children are often considered as lacking in many areas rather than being celebrated for the many strengths they possess. Although strengths-based interventions have been largely used to improve children's lives with milder behavioral disorders, strength-based interventions are still not widely implemented in the community.
Current studies and new directions have pointed out the flaws of this deficit-based thinking and instead advocates for more strengths-based approaches supporting autistic children. Unlike these deficit-based interventions, strength-based approaches focus on the children's strengths and capabilities, rather than autism itself (Hammond, 2010). As such, educators and caregivers provide more information about the strengths a child possesses and strategies to support their learning and psychosocial development. The approach presumes competence, recognizing that all children can learn, communicate, participate in social activities in their own way, and respect the value of human diversity (Hammond, 2010; Galloway et al, 2020).
The strength-based intervention has been widely used in different fields ranging from organizations, individuals, associations through communities. Over the years, numerous implementation approaches have been developed to support the foundational blocks of strength perspective (Galloway et al., 2020). In common, these models focus on the collaborative process between individuals empowered and those empowering them to exploit their strengths and talents to improve the quality of life for the victims (Jach et al, 2018). This study seeks to explore the effectiveness of strength-based intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders.
Strength-based intervention for ASD
Autistic children have strengths, abilities, interests than other neurotypical peers. Some of the strengths of autistic children include but are not limited to visual perception, attention to detail, technical skills, and mathematical, creative, and artistic talents (Berenguer et al., 2020). Similarly, children with autism depict desirable character strengths, including honesty and loyalty. Regardless of these strengths, parents and educators focus on the child's challenges such as interpersonal relationships, community engagement, education, and social interactions (Berenguer et al., 2020; Hammond, 2010). Research shows that autistic kids have lower-quality lives than normal children and are more likely to experience mental health problems if parents and communities continue to focus on their flaws rather than strengths (Jones et al., 2018).
Concentrating on strengths offers control and a new mindset to a child. Typically, strength-based intervention improves the resilience and purpose of a child in society. Stability provides a myriad of benefits, including feeling valued and special, optimistic, and appreciating life (Berenguer et al., 2020; Hammond, 2010; Suhayla et al., 2020). Besides, it helps the children set goals, expectations, and creative ways, thus fostering growth. For instance, children gain knowledge on ways to confront challenges effectively rather than avoiding them (Jones et al., 2018). According to Waters et al. (2019), strength-based intervention helps build self-esteem, competence, and practical interpersonal skills. Ullenhag et al. (2020), asserts that strength-based interventions inspire children to connect with parents, educators, and the community to spur their transformation.
Children who have autism experience emotional deregulations, anxiety, dissociation, traumatic stress, depression, learning challenges, and eating a disorder to mention a few. Besides, such children experience participation restriction in leisure and social activities. Participation in leisure activities helps to improve the health and well-being of an individual (Ullenhag et al., 2020). In reality, these actions offer a child a sense of worth and opportunity to realize individual goals and personality. Unfortunately, children suffering from ASD experience restrictions caused by internal and external factors. Children with autism face internal influences, including stereotyped patterns, behavior and impairments, and social functions (Ullenhag et al., 2020). Such deficiencies significantly affect a child's social life, including participation in leisure activities.
Equally, autistic children have difficulties with responsiveness and find it hard to control their emotional reactions. According to Ullenhag et al. (2020), these influences are rooted in how the adults respond to these kids and the negative social interaction. Waters et al. (2019), asserts that the development and growth of a child are influenced by the adults they associate with. For instance, having healthy adult inspirations is more likely to develop the kid to perform great things, and vice versa. According to Ullenhag et al. (2020), strength-based approaches increase involvement in leisure activities in children with mental disorders such as autism. Research shows that parents, educators, and caregivers often underestimate children's capabilities but rather enforces their desires on children without considering their interests. On the flip side, SBA directly considers children’s preferences, interests, and experiences (Ullenhag et al., 2020). Self-ratings incorporated in the intervention allow children to air their ideas, allowing them a sense of control.
Strength-based intervention epitomizes a shift from a deficit-based approach. Usually, deficit-based models fail to offer useful insights into the strengths and strategies that support growth and development. In contrast, strength-based intervention appreciates that a child’s learning is complex, dynamic, and holistic (Khan & Francis, 2015). That is, every student is unique and has different strengths and talents. Strength-based intervention leverages questioning strategies to identify the most effective methods that match individual child abilities (Steiner, 2011). In other words, the intervention helps caregivers, educators, and children visualize what a child’s learning and development would look like in the present and the future.
Every child has strengths within themselves that can improve the social, academic psychological, and emotional well-being. To be specific, personal factors play a vital role in the recovery towards a quality life for people suffering from neurodevelopmental disorders. According to Steiner (2011), the existence of personality assets incredibly predicts the long-term trend of improvements in mental disorders. Jones et al. (2018), asserted that recovery and improvements from mental illnesses are linked to more significant character strengths. According to Jach et al., strengths-based parenting lowers stress and increases life satisfaction in adolescents. According to Jones et al. (2018), providing adolescents with autism with strength-based data results in better social, academic, and overall outcomes. This suggests the possible usefulness of a strength-based assessment. Even in communities, research has shown the significance of aiming at strengths rather than flaws.
Strength-based intervention improves the lives of children with autism. The model encourages the identification and assessment of the vital interests and variables that are effective with children with autism, and the use of parents and educators support and reframing child character, while at the same time changing their attitudes on the potential of the child (Jach et al. 2018). According to Galloway et al. (2020), strength-based interve...