Applied behavioral treatment, hope for a new outcome for young autists

The nonprofit Autisme Bel Avenir, created after the first congress on autism held in 2006 on Réunion Island, offers, in the district and in the outlying regions, the treatment and development of behavioral treatments adapted to children and adolescents suffering from invasive disorders such as autism. This therapy is yielding satisfactory results in the United States, England and other European countries.

Since 2007, it has enlisted the assistance of two psychologists specialized in Applied Behavioral Analysis for this purpose, in order to prepare and set up the projects with the inauguration, in 2008, of the first university degree training session at the University of La Réunion (in partnership with the University of Lille); 2010 was the year in which a Specialized Behavioral Counseling Service (SACS) was set up.

A project of community interest, which contributes to sustainable development and job creation

The nonprofit is working today on the management of the SACS, the promotion of applied behavioral treatment, access to information and training on these analytical techniques in the regions of the Indian Ocean. Since July 2010, the center has received a dozen children aged under six. The mission demands two administrative staff full-time, and two specialized psychologists supervising a group of 16 educators in university training over two years. The project still has no equivalent in metropolitan France, and is a formidable means for school and social integration for often marginalized children.

The Veolia Foundation is backing the purchase of appropriate education and telecommunications equipment, designed to enhance the collaboration of the educational teams of the center with the researchers of the University of Lille 3, with a view to creating a specialized Master's degree in "psychology in childhood, adolescence and applied behavioral analysis".