Portage and Autism Ranking:

Portage is an early childhood intervention service that aims to support families who have young children with additional needs in their own homes.

The children are taught new skills through the use of questions and tasks, prompts, and rewards. Parents and carers are shown how to apply this system by a weekly or fortnightly visit from a Portage home visitor.

The training sessions are brief, usually about 15 – 20 minutes per day, and are scheduled when the parent believes the child will be at their most receptive. Typically, the parent will teach the child in a 1:1 situation, and will target one or two skills a week for teaching.

Monitoring and evaluation of progress occurs at the supervisors visits.

Typically, the parent will teach the child in a 1:1 situation, and will target one or two skills a week for teaching.

Monitoring and evaluation of progress occurs at the supervisors visits.

Our Opinion

There is currently very little research evidence on the use of portage for families with pre-school children on the autism spectrum. There are more studies that provide some feedback on outcomes for pre-school children with a range of special educational needs.

The research evidence that does exist suggests that portage may provide some limited benefits to those families, especially when it is adapted for use with children on the autism spectrum.

However the research evidence also suggests that portage may not provide as many benefits to families with children on the autism spectrum as other early interventions.

Because portage is commonly used as an early intervention tool to support families with pre-school children with a range of disabilities we recommend that further, more rigorous studies are carried out into its use.

Disclaimer

Please read our Disclaimer on Autism Interventions