Rehabilitation in Autism. Pilot Project on the Health Centre-Based Primary Care Model within the National Health Plan Implementation Projects

Abstract

Background: In Italy, there is a lack of reliable data on the epidemiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on a national scale. The exact etiopathogenesis of ASDs is still largely unknown, with autism representing the final common pathway of different pathological conditions. Aim of the Study: Assessment of the effects produced by the individualised, intensive and holistic rehabilitation programme used by the Il Cireneo Foundation on the daily living skills of people diagnosed with ASD. Materials and Methods: Out of the eighty-seven (n = 87) enrolees, seventy-nine (n = 79), of whom 19 were females (24.1%) and 60 were males (75.9%), with a mean age of 13.41 years (SD = 6.93 years; range = 2 -33 years) terminated the three-year study. The enrolees were evaluated two times: at the beginning of the rehabilitation programme and at the end of the three-year goal-oriented project. Results: Statistically significant results between T0 and T1 were recorded for CARS (t-4.221; p < 0.05) and for the domains of Communication (t-2.750; p < 0.05), Daily Living Skills (t-6.526; p < 0.05) and Motor Skills (t-3.524; p < 0.05) of the VABS. Conclusions: People diagnosed with autism can be helped to become more autonomous and independent in carrying out activities of daily living thanks to an intensive psycho-educational and cognitive-behavioural rehabilitation programme, of which the Il Cireneo Foundation is the only expression in the Abruzzo region.