Preliminary clinical outcomes of a short-term low-intensity Early Start Denver Model implemented in the Taiwanese public health system.
Eight weekly hours of the Early Start Denver Model in a hospital can boost language and thinking for Taiwanese toddlers with autism.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Doctors in Taiwan ran the Early Start Denver Model inside a public hospital.
Kids came for about eight hours each week for six months.
The team tracked language, thinking, and autism signs before and after.
What they found
Toddlers with autism spoke more, scored higher on thinking games, and showed fewer autism signs after the short program.
Parents kept the hospital time low, yet kids still moved forward.
How this fits with other research
Chiang et al. (2023) later repeated the same 8-hour plan in more hospitals and saw the same short-term gains.
Sinai-Gavrilov et al. (2024) switched the work to parents at home and still got strong language growth, showing you can hand the model to families.
Vinen et al. (2018) looked years ahead and found that any early help, not just ESDM, kept kids thinking well, but repetitive behaviors rose for all groups.
Together the papers say: lighter hours work now, yet you will need a next step to hold the gains.
Why it matters
If your clinic has long wait lists or tight budgets, you can offer eight hours of ESDM and still see clear progress.
Pair the brief block with a parent-coach or follow-up plan so skills do not slip after discharge.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The Early Start Denver Model is a comprehensive naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorder. Rigorous studies indicate that long-term, high-intensity Early Start Denver Model in home-based settings can help young children with autism spectrum disorder have great progress in language, cognitive development, and adaptive skills and reduce overall symptom severity. In accordance with the current limitations in resourcing for early intervention in Taiwan, this study evaluated the effects of implementing the Early Start Denver Model in the Taiwanese public health system with some adaptations, including lower intensity, shorter duration, and delivery in general hospitals. A total of 16 children with autism spectrum disorder, aged between 25 and 46 months, received approximately 8 h per week one-on-one Early Start Denver Model intervention. After 6 months of intervention, the children showed great improvements in language and overall cognitive functioning and reduced symptom severity in communication and play. This study suggests that directly delivering the Early Start Denver Model in community-based hospitals may be an effective intervention, which can make more young children with autism spectrum disorder in Taiwan access the Early Start Denver Model service.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2020 · doi:10.1177/1362361319897179