Benefits of the Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH) programme as compared with a non-specific approach.

BACKGROUND Two educational treatments were compared, the Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH) programme and the integration programme for individuals with disabilities. METHODS Two groups of eight subjects were matched by gender, chronological and mental age, and nosographic diagnosis (i.e. autism associated with severe intellectual disability, DSM-IV criteria and Childhood Autism Rating Scale scored. The TEACCH programme was applied to the experimental group, while the control group was integrated in regular schools with a support teacher. The Psycho-Educational Profile-Revised and the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale were administered twice with a one-year interval between assessments. RESULTS The scores of the experimental group increased more than the control group scores. Statistically significant differences were obtained in both groups because of the differences in the two approaches.