NCJ Number
146067
Date Published
1979
Length
43 pages
Annotation
TEACCH (Training and Education of Autistic, Psychotic, and Related Communications Handicapped Children) was established in 1972 as a State-supported program in North Carolina to help parents deal with psychotic children.
Abstract
The TEACCH program was similar to a boot camp where parents learned techniques used by professionals to reach and train their psychotic children. Parent training not only benefited children but also helped parents gain confidence in their abilities. The program acknowledged that child psychosis may be the most difficult mental disorder to understand and that many investigators have attempted to define what characterizes psychotic children. One study defined the following features of young psychotic children: severely abnormal or delayed use of language and prelanguage skills; seriously impaired relationships with other people; strange mannerisms; and onset of these symptoms before 30 months of age. Other studies found that most psychotic children are seriously retarded; some, such as autistic children, are only mildly retarded. The TEACCH program was based on a developmental model and two assumptions: (1) causes of childhood psychosis are multiple; and (2) child development is guided by both biological processes and interactions with parents. The program recognized the advantages of demonstrating therapeutic techniques to parents with psychotic children. Working with professionals, parents learned how to test their children and to assess learning and functioning patterns. Program developers determined that the TEACCH program offered an alternative method for treating and educating psychotic children and that it had the additional benefit of keeping families together. 37 references and 4 photographs