Writing as an intervention in Mental Health and Public Health: revision 25 years after the Phaedrus Approach to autism

Abstract

NTRODUCTION: The treatment of autism was a challenge since its description, especially in non-speaking (NS) or minimally speaking (MS) people, who receive little attention from scientific literature and represent a high health care cost. The year 2022 marked the 25th anniversary of an approach to NS/MS autism redesigned in Argentina and carried out through synchronous typewriting (Phaedrus Approach). The objective of this work was to review and describe for the first time the clinical changes (CC) after intervention. METHODS: A systematic descriptive review of the CC reports was carried out, based on a series of cases addressed with the intervention under study. RESULTS: The reports of the 10 most frequent CC in the sample were described, which appeared on average after 13.8 months of treatment. Each case presented 7.5 CC, with similar results between diagnoses prior to treatment and with some differences in favor of female gender, those under 10 years of age at the start of treatment, and NS people. While 100% acceded to independent typewriting, 71% achieved or improved speech afterwards. DISCUSSION: The 7 most frequent CC represent key aspects of autism treatment. Although more studies are required, the results are very promising and represent a substantial contribution to the scientific evidence. This approach could be cost-effective for NS/MS autism spectrum disorder and could be of interest for other problems at the intersection of mental health and public health.