Integration of therapies in autistic children; A survey based in Karachi, Pakistan

A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June 2016 on autistic children at the Autism Unit of Dow University of Health Sciences to compare speech therapy, occupational therapy and combination of both for rehabilitation of autistic children in the selected population. A total of 55 children with autism age range from 1-12 years of both gender and all ethnic groups were recruited. All data was analysed in IBM-SPSS version 23.0. Pearson chi-square test was used to determine association of type of therapy with the diagnosed age of child, gender, mode of delivery, history of vaccination and parent's education. Educated parenthood and a normal behaviour especially by other siblings played a significant role in early detection and referral of autistic child to rehabilitation centre. Moreover, it was observed that a combination of therapies helped in enhancement of social, learning and behavioural skills required for rehabilitation of autistic children.