Treatment and management of the social communication disorder: Pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments and the associated side effects

The intervention and treatment for SCD depend on the specific needs of the patient. It is a new category of mental disorder. Therefore, most treatment approaches and interventions are non-pharmacological.

Pharmacological Treatments

• SCD is a new diagnostic category based on the DSM-5 on mental disorders.
• There lacks specific pharmacological interventions designed for SCD,
• The side effects of the existing pharmacological interventions are not yet established.

Non-pharmacological interventions and treatments

• Psychosocial education and the development of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) based on the specific communication challenges of the child,
• Specialized speech and language therapies (Gaile & Adams, 2018).
• Family involvement in supporting the patient and creating an environment to promote social communication,
• Making small adjustments in all of the patient’s social settings to encourage social interactions and communication, and practice in real life,

Module 5: Legal, ethical, and pertinent patient education considerations related to social (pragmatic) communication disorder.

Legal and ethical considerations

• All legal and ethical considerations must be made when managing patients with mental and behavioral disorders,
• Specialist, teachers, parents, and caregivers are required to consider the rights of the patients as any other human,
• The selected form of intervention must be able to meet the needs of the child or patient,
• If a child is to undergo any form of therapy, the health professional and others involved must include the consent of the child’s parent,
• All interventions selected for the treatment of a patient or child must be backed with sufficient evidence on efficiency and effectiveness,
• SCD patients have a right to available treatment and intervention options.

Pertinent patient education considerations

• Psychosocial education and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) must be designed on the basis of the child’s communication challenges and needs,
• Social education is required to create awareness of the social communication disorder.

References

Flax, J., Gwin, C., Wilson, S., Fradkin, Y., Buyske, S., & Brzustowicz, L. (2019). Social (pragmatic) communication disorder: Another name for the broad autism phenotype?. Autism, 23(8), 1982-1992.

Gaile, J., & Adams, C. (2018). Metacognition in speech and language therapy for children with social (pragmatic) communication disorders: implications for a theory of therapy. International journal of language & communication disorders, 53(1), 55-69.

Hilt, R. J., & Nussbaum, A. M. (2016). DSM-5 pocket guide for child and adolescent mental health. American Psychiatric Association Publishing.