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CLINICAL CASE
Behavioral and neurophysiological effects of the early start Denver model in a child with autism spectrum disorder
1 Vernadsky Crimean Federal University, Simferopol, Russia
2 Institute for biochemical technology, ecology and pharmacy, Vernadsky Crimean Federal University, Simferopol, Russia
3 Balaban Crimean republican clinical psychiatric hospital No. 1, Simferopol, Russia
Correspondence should be addressed: Vladimir B. Pavlenko
pr. Vernadskogo, 4, Simferopol, 295007, Russia; moc.liamg@55vapv
Funding: the work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 25-78-10035, https://rscf.ru/en/project/25-78-10035/.
Author contribution: Pavlenko VB, Mikhailova AA — study planning, data analysis and interpretation, manuscript drafting; Berezutskaya VP, Shurygina DA — data collection and analysis, manuscript drafting.
Compliance with ethical standards: the study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the V.I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University (Minutes No. 8 of November 27, 2025). The parents provided informed consent for their child’s participation in the study.
The problem of finding new treatment methods fo r children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains urgent. One of the ways to correct the manifestations of ASD is the Early Start Denver model (ESDM). This article describes a clinical case of a patient (a boy) with ASD. The child began an 8-month ESDM-based psycho-correctional intervention at the age of 4 years and 2 months. Each session lasted 50 minutes; they were held twice a week. One of the parents (the boy's mother) was an active participant in the sessions. Before and after the intervention, the child’s condition was assessed using the ADOS-2 and CARS scales, the E. E. Lyaxo speech development questionnaire, a measure of helping-behavior severity, and EEG. According to the supervising psychiatrist and his parents, the boy’s behavior has improved. Test results indicated a reduction in autism symptom severity (ADOS-2 score: 5 to 4; CARS score: 32 to 24), an increase in the percentage of correctly completed speech tasks from the Lyaxo questionnaire (46.5% to 54.0%), and increases in instrumental (2 to 10), emotional (0 to 5), and altruistic (0 to 9) helping behaviors, as well as in a combined altruistic–emotional helping behavior score (0 to 8). After the ESDM intervention, the child showed stronger µ-rhythm amplitude desynchronization on EEG during observation of another person’s actions. This clinical observation confirms that the ESDM technique can significantly impact the neural circuits underlying social behavior.