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What Is Early Intervention?
 Always bear in mind one of the central conclusions of current research: The philosophy of the intervention programs vary as do their outcomes, but the critical components that go into a program share key elements.
How early you start, how many hours your child participates, the amount of family involvement and integration with typical peers, the level of team approach, and other factors are critical components. The staff of the Department of Psychology at the Autism Treatment Services of Canada drew on a corpus of research to come up with these components.
To you this means:
Age at which Treatment Starts
Move beyond the denial phase as quickly as you can. Numerous studies show that the younger a child at the start of treatment, the more likely he or she is to make significant gains. This is perverse advice, but even before you know what you are doing or what you are up against, you should assume the worse and begin your battle against it.
Treatment Intensity
There is almost no amount of therapeutic intervention that is too much. A number of studies show significant cognitive and behavioral gains with at least 25 hours of therapy each week. These results generally rest on the assumption that treatment is continuos over 24 months without summers off and is characterized by one-to-one or small-group instruction. Obviously, this huge commitment completely transforms your family.
Family Involvement
Unlike a medical condition in which you turn your child over to the professionals for care, autism cannot be successfully addressed without parental engagement. Parental training — also involving other family members — keeps therapy going through the child's entire day and week. Without counsel from professionals, it is nearly impossible to devise viable coping strategies for anger, tantrums, rigidity, speech challenges, social isolation, and the full range of negative behaviors.
Inclusion with Typical Peers
Children mimic the behavior they observe. It is crucial that children on the spectrum interact with typically developing peers so they can develop more conventional behaviors and skills.1 While this situation may meet with strong resistance from your child, don't think it is without effect even if he or she does not appear to be paying attention. This setting allows a child to generalize and apply the skills he or she is developing in an isolated treatment environment. Recruit children as "playdates" and let the chemistry sort itself out. While some children won't connect, you may find others who can engage with your child better than you can.
Diverse Team Members
The number of different professionals from different disciplines who can help your child can be overwhelming. Unfortunately, you can't simplify treatment by having one person treat your child. You'll need a crew because your child's needs are extremely diverse, and a range of professional competencies is necessary. The speech therapist cannot help in the way a psychiatrist can, who in turn cannot help you in the way a developmental pediatrician or occupational therapist can. Others might play a vital role in your child's therapy include medical practitioners, psychologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, teachers, and special education providers. Once you've carefully assembled this "multidisciplinary" team, you have to help them stay in touch with one another. A simple email list with a regular update — written by you — is probably enough; however, regulations in some states prohibit therapists to communicate with parents via email because of privacy concerns.
Success may be slow and of course is not guaranteed. But these elements of an effective approach are tried and tested and are good dimensions to use in order to plan and to evaluate your intervention. To download the report Treatment Programs for Young Children with Autism: Identifying the Critical Program Elements, visit the treatment service's site and click on "Articles" to find it. 
1 K. English, H. Goldstein, and K. Kaczmarek, "Promoting Interactions Among Preschoolers with and without Disabilities: Effects of a Buddy Skills-Training Program," Exceptional Children 63, no. 2 (1997):229-43. | 
