Starting from the motivation of the child with autism spectrum disorders to help him get out of isolation. This is the basis of the ESDM or Early Start Denver Model, an intervention model with proven scientific evidence for the treatment of children with autism in the early years of life, born in the United States thanks to the commitment of Professor Sally Rogers of the University of California in Sacramento. From Monday 8 to Thursday 11 July 2019, a group of cross-border experts in the field of autism (psychologists, speech therapists, neuropsychomotricians and defectologists) will receive specific training on this model within the framework of the Salute- Zdravstvo project- Construction of a network of services cross-border healthcare, funded by the Interreg Italy-Slovenia VA 2014-2020 program and managed by the EGTC GO as sole beneficiary in collaboration with the implementing bodies (AAS n ° 2 "Bassa Friulana Isontina", Zdravstveni dom Nova Gorica, Splošna bolnišnica "Dr Franca Derganca Nova Gorica, Psihiatrična bolnišnica Idrija).
The list of participants includes experts from AAS No. 2 "Bassa Friulana Isontina" and Splošna bolnišnica "Dr. Franca Derganca" from Šempeter. This is the second part of a course which took place exactly one year ago. The participants of the first module will act in the role of observers.

The psychologist Costanza Colombi, professor in the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Michigan, will lead the course. Colombi has conducted research on the diagnosis, intervention and socio-cognitive development of autism in the very early stages of life and has published in several international journals. She is an Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule - 2 (ADOS-2)and Early Start Denver Model certified trainer. ESDM aims to bring out deficient social skills in children with autism through play and daily activities. The child with autism is less sensitive to social stimuli and less motivated to interact with other people and this limits their learning. The purpose of the ESDM is to bring children with autism back into the circle of social relations, trying to decrease the differences that are created in all areas of development by intervening as early as possible. The training was held at the Basaglia Park in Gorizia and provided for a theoretical part and a practical section, with the treatment and evaluation of practical cases.

The ESDM methodology will be adopted by the joint cross-border medical team for the treatment of children with autism spectrum disorder in the area of ​​the EGTC GO. The medical team, which will operate in the Basaglia Park within a dedicated space with adequate equipment for the treatments, will operate according to a joint medical protocol for taking care of children suffering from autism spectrum disorder. The protocol guidelines, which collect Italian and Slovenian good practices, have already been presented, in draft form, to pediatricians, educators and teachers at the end of 2017. In the model adopted by the EGTC GO medical team, an early diagnosis is essential and, consequently, so is an early treatment intervention. It is scientifically proven, in fact, that the diagnosis and consequent start of an early intervention can significantly improve the prognosis with children suffering from autism spectrum disorder and the quality of life of their families.