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document
Environmental enrichment as an effective treatment for autism : a randomized controlled trial . Enriched sensorimotor environments enable rodents to compensate for a wide range of neurological challenges , including those induced in animal models of autism . Given the sensorimotor deficits in most children with autism , we attempted to translate that approach to their treatment . In a randomized controlled trial , 3-12 year-old children with autism were assigned to either a sensorimotor enrichment group , which received daily olfactory/tactile stimulation along with exercises that stimulated other paired sensory modalities , or to a control group . We administered tests of cognitive performance and autism severity to both groups at the initiation of the study and after 6 months . Severity of autism , as assessed with the Childhood Autism Rating Scale , improved significantly in the enriched group compared to controls . Indeed , 42 % of the enriched group and only 7 % of the control group had what we considered to be a clinically significant improvement of 5 points on that scale . Sensorimotor enrichment also produced a clear improvement in cognition , as determined by their Leiter-R Visualization and Reasoning scores . At 6 months , the change in average scores for the enriched group was 11.3 points higher than that for the control group . Finally , 69 % of parents in the enriched group and 31 % of parents in the control group reported improvement in their child over the 6-month study . Environmental enrichment therefore appears to be effective in ameliorating some of the symptoms of autism in children .
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Intervention_Physical
sensorimotor enrichment group
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Intervention_Physical
olfactory/tactile stimulation
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Intervention_Physical
exercises that stimulated other paired sensory modalities
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Intervention_Control
control group
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Outcome_Physical
autism
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Outcome_Physical
Severity of autism
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Outcome_Other
Childhood Autism Rating Scale
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Outcome_Other
clear improvement in cognition
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Outcome_Other
ameliorating some of the symptoms of autism
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Participant_Condition
autism
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Participant_Age
3-12 year-old children
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Participant_Condition
autism