The early start Denver Model for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is a behavioral therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) between 12 to 48 months, based on Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). With new discoveries on ASD, recent research on behavioral interventions is required, so that evidence based therapies are properly prescribed for patients. We propose a mini-review on (ESDM) for young ASD children, to analyze recent studies regarding the effectiveness of this approach. For the research, PubMed platform was selected and the following key words were used: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Early Start Denver Model. From fifteen articles, six were selected: two meta-analysis, one observational study, one clinical trial, one genetic research and one in-depth interview research. The heterogeneous methodologies and approaches resulted in slightly different conclusions regarding the benefits of the therapy and its limitations. However, all studies reported benefits related to language skills, and the majority pointed to outcomes in cognition as well. Genetic variants, autism severity and economical limitations were found as barriers for the success of the intervention. More research in this field is needed, in order to clarify which infants could benefit best of the therapy and what are the expected results.