Research from UCLA aims to help treat children with autism

Researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) are seeking new ways to help children with autism succeed in the classroom. Officials said that this is an ideal place to study interventions because it is a natural environment to research new ways of treating children with autism.

Research will include improving the social skills, language and independence of young adults and examining the differences in development among teens with the condition from those with mild intellectual disabilities or typical development. The study aims to find possible treatments for autism, rather than finding a cure.

The study hopes to gain an understanding as to the impact of music education. The study will use brain imaging to understand how children with autism process emotion in music.

Boarding schools can help children who suffer from autism by designing individualized therapy and education to help achieve social, academic and behavioral success.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, autism spectrum disorders are reported to occur in all racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Furthermore, the condition is on average four to five times more prevalent in boys than in girls.