Omid Early Intervention Programme for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Families in Iran

Child development research has established the importance of support and services for children with special needs and their families at very early stages after the diagnosis. These services offered in the form of the early intervention programmes. There is a dearth of early intervention programmes for children with autism spectrum disorders and their families in Iran. A parent based early intervention programme has been developed based on several preliminary studies in Iran. This programme is called "Omid early intervention programme for children with Autism". It is based on the social model of service provision and tries to establish a good parent–professional relationship through visiting children in their natural context and engaging parents in the intervention process. The programme consists of four phases which in first phase parents and child communication is considered and a resource kit facilitates the interaction. In the second phase updating parental information on autism is targeted through different workshops. Home visits are considered at the phase three and finally at the phase four the main concern is on the preparing a safe transition from home to school via preparing both parents and pre-school staffs. This programme is under trial right now.