Objective: To explore the effect of early rehabilitation intervention in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) .

Methods: Two samples were included in this study. Sample 1 included 76 children with ASD who received continuous rehabilitation for 6 months, and sample 2 included 108 children with ASD who received continuous rehabilitation for more than 2 years. According to the age at the beginning of rehabilitation intervention, they were divided into early rehabilitation intervention group (≤3 years of age) and non-early rehabilitation intervention group (more than 3 years and up to 5 years of age). All the children received comprehensive intervention mode with social function as the principal line combined with acupuncture therapy. The patients in sample 1 were assessed with Psychoeducational Profile-Third Edition (PEP-3) and Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) before and 6 months after rehabilitation intervention, and the proportion of patients enrolled in general or special schools in sample 2 were assessed when they were 6 years old (normal enrollment) or 7 years old (delayed enrollment for one year).

Results: In sample 1 and sample 2, there was no significant difference in the baseline total score of CARS between the early rehabilitation intervention group and the non-early rehabilitation intervention group (P > 0.05). In sample 1, imitation in PEP-3 in early rehabilitation intervention group was significantly improved compared with that in the non-early rehabilitation intervention group (P = 0.022). There were no significant differences in other items including cognition, language expression, language understanding, small muscle, big muscle, emotional expression, social interaction, nonverbal behavior characteristics and language behavior characteristics (P > 0.05); the overall score of CARS in the early rehabilitation intervention group was significantly higher than that in the non-early rehabilitation intervention group (P < 0.05). In sample 2, the proportion of patients enrolled in general schools in the early rehabilitation intervention group was significantly higher than that in the non-early rehabilitation intervention group (41.67% vs 20.83%, P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Early rehabilitation intervention can significantly improve the outcomes of children with ASD, and reduce the disability rate, which is worthy of clinical application and policy support.