Among the crowd of treatments, interventions, and purported cures that proliferate around autism spectrum disorders, the Denver Model has long stood as a beacon of empirical rigor and developmental sensitivity. In their new book,
Early Start Denver Model for Young Children with Autism: Promoting Language, Learning and Engagement, Sally Rogers and Geri Dawson, two of the most experienced and accomplished psychologists working in autism today, have laid out the details of a modification of their program designed for toddlers and very young children. Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the appearance of this book is its timing. It follows the publication of the authors’ paper in
Pediatrics (Rogers et al.
2010), which describes a randomized controlled trial comparing the ESDM to standard community treatment. The study finds significant advantage for ESDM in terms of adaptive outcomes and reduction in autistic severity after 2 years of treatment. Unlike so many other treatment programs for ASD, for which authors attempt to disseminate intervention approaches BEFORE collecting data on their efficacy, Rogers and Dawson have taken the opposite course. By conducting a carefully designed study before publishing their program, they have established an empirical basis for it that provides a high level of added value. Parents and educators who use the program have not just its authors’ endorsement, but a scientific basis for its validity. …
