The clinic offers different treatments based on the child’s age. For children under 5 years of age, the Infant-Family program is one intensive program lasting 2 to 4 weeks followed by a follow-up program that lasts for 1 to 2 years. The staff works with the entire family and the child 6 hours a day, 6 days a week. One day of the treatment is performed in the family environment.

In the assessment and formulation phase of the treatment program (phase 1), the baby is observed to identify what obstacles there may be to communication. Family relationships, a critical part of the assessment, are explored and observed, and emotional, environmental, or relational obstacles to communication are identified.

Practitioners observe and investigate the entire spectrum of child development in order to identify problems with social, communication, and behavioral and emotional development.

Phase 2 is the therapeutic intervention phase in which practitioners work with all family members. Work with the parents and child together helps to build on sensitive ways of being together and to expand on the parent/child relationship skills. Work with the infant in this phase helps the infant to understand his or her repetitious behaviors and to expand their communication skills. Play objects are use to stimulate sensory development.

Working with parents and siblings together teases out patterns of managing emotions that may be obstacles to helping the infant respond to them.

Finally, in keeping with the whole child / whole family approach, staff works with the couple to explore issues that may interfere with effective co-parenting.

Because having a special-needs sibling can be difficult, the staff works with siblings to help expand their ability to manage their feelings and frustrations.

The final stage (phase 3) is the integration phase in which staff helps the family to anticipate challenges that may be in their future, to support the family during transitions, and to document the progress made during treatment.

By the end of the intensive treatment period, the family is able to enjoy their infant in a new way and to utilize new patterns of relating to him or her. Post-treatment follow-up is recommended and includes weekly support of parents and child in the home.

The Parent-Infant clinic’s website states that they “can say that 100% of the infants we treated achieved physical and emotional development.” Clearly this innovative approach to autism treatment not only starts very early, but the nature of its family-centered intervention helps to achieve phenomenal results for the child.

Because ASD affects not just the child but the entire family, treatment includes the entire family, helping family members to understand how their relationships impact the family and the child with ASD. A three week treatment at the center isolates the family from their routine stresses and helps the family to learn to understand how the affected child’s behavior and diagnosis has affected the family. This understanding, along with their learning about reciprocal play therapy, educates the family about how to address the needs of the child with ASD.

Reciprocal Play Therapy is a crucial part of the Mifne model of treatment. This therapy helps to engage the child and to help him or her understand that social interaction is pleasurable. Therapists work with children to help them become engaged and to desire social interaction. Working with the individual child’s needs, the therapist assesses the child to determine how best to gain his or her attention. Starting with eye contact and moving on to physical contact, the therapists create situations in which the child is motivated to communicate his or her wants and needs. Rather than teaching words by drilling and repetition, this approach prompts the child to spontaneously use language.

Parents and family members observe these sessions through one way glass and can watch the child’s progress and learn how to use these therapies at home. Evaluation forms are completed after each session to determine the extent of eye contact, physical contact, play sharing, and the like. Gradually reciprocity of contact builds between child and therapist.

Following the intensive residential treatment, home treatment continues from 6 to 18 months, depending on how the child progresses. Mifne arranges for periodic visits to the family, who are also submitting videos of the child every 4 to 6 weeks. Therapists assess the videos and provide feedback to the family on how to proceed with treatment.

Intervention for Infants

While existing autism treatments focus on treating children who have already been diagnosed with autism based on their behavior, the Mifne model is the first approach that focuses on pre-autism and works to prevent or decrease the symptoms. Using responsive sensory intervention therapy (R-SIT), the treatment model nurtures infants’ attachment and helps to keep autism from developing later in childhood.

The R-SIT model nurtures infants’ responses to parents and involves 2 weeks of intensive residential treatment. Therapy with the baby is one of two components of R-SIT, which includes stimulating the baby with social, motor, audio, tactile, and vestibular stimulation. Giving the baby time to assimilate his reactions and to regulate his reponses, this therapy encourages baby to respond to parents.

The second phase of R-SIT is therapy with parents and siblings and operates under the assumption that parents are the best therapists for the baby. The nuclear family participates in treatment in order to learn how they are both impacting and impacted by the baby. Therapy helps family members to understand how the baby’s needs and circumstances are affecting them and the family, and provides support for family members so that, once home, they can continue to provide therapeutic services.

Treatment Results

A 5 year follow up of babies who have been treated at the Mifne Center revealed they were neuro-typically developing children, and an evaluation of the program by the Schneider Children’s Medical Center showed that the children improved on 2 scales: the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and the Social Behavior Rating Scale (SBRS). Both scales revealed significant improvements after 3 weeks and after 6 months.

Case studies have revealed that this treatment in the first year of a child’s life can significantly redirect the infant’s development and may avoid the development or escalation of signs and symptoms of autism.

Resources & References:

Read more about the Mifne Model at the program’s website.

A new study by the University of Washington Autism Center hopes to study 200 babies in the Seattle area who have siblings with autism. The study’s goal is to determine whether early intervention by mothers has an effect on the siblings’ social development.

Dr. Annette Estes, associate director of the center, states that “With autism, we think there may be some disruptions in the social communication system’’ of children affected. Dr. Estes believes that “very, very early subtle episodes of social interaction . . . may be necessary for the social brain to develop in a typical way.’’

Therefore, the mothers in the study will be trained to detect these subtle communication cues in their babies. Mothers will be taught to engage infants in eye contact and to communicate to them in tones that will capture their attention and help make language acquisition easier. Dr. Estes says the researchers “want parents to really be attuned when a child reaches for a toy and looks at the parent. We want parents to be really aware when their child is allowing them into their world and to know what to do at that point.’’

Behavioral specialists will monitor the babies and evaluate them at the ages of 6, 12 and 24 months; babies who start to develop symptoms of autism will be assigned a speech and behavioral therapist to determine if symptoms can be eliminated or lessened by early intervention.

The study may provide answers to questions about brain development in all children, not just those at risk for autism. Dr. Estes notes that the study is especially important for parents who have a younger child whose older sibling has autism. Currently, there are no options for these parents, who can only wait to see whether the younger child develops autism symptoms.

Resources & References

To read more about the study, visit the University of Washington Autism Center’s research page and this New York Times article.

A new study by the University of Washington Autism Center hopes to study 200 babies in the Seattle area who have siblings with autism.  The study’s goal is to determine whether early intervention by mothers has an effect on the siblings’ social development.

Dr. Annette Estes, associate director of the center, states that “With autism, we think there may be some disruptions in the social communication system’’ of children affected.  Dr. Estes believes that “very, very early subtle episodes of social interaction . . . may be necessary for the social brain to develop in a typical way.’’

Therefore, the mothers in the study will be trained to detect these subtle communication cues in their babies.  Mothers will be taught to engage infants in eye contact and to communicate to them in tones that will capture their attention and help make language acquisition easier.  Dr. Estes says the researchers “want parents to really be attuned when a child reaches for a toy and looks at the parent.  We want parents to be really aware when their child is allowing them into their world and to know what to do at that point.’’

Behavioral specialists will monitor the babies and evaluate them at the ages of 6, 12 and 24 months; babies who start to develop symptoms of autism will be assigned a speech and behavioral therapist to determine if symptoms can be eliminated or lessened by early intervention.

The study may provide answers to questions about brain development in all children, not just those at risk for autism.  Dr. Estes notes that the study is especially important for parents who have a younger child whose older sibling has autism.  Currently, there are no options for these parents, who can only wait to see whether the younger child develops autism symptoms.

To read more about the study, visit the University of Washington Autism Center’s research page and this New York Times article.