Research: Intensive Behavioral/Psychoeducational Treatments for Autism: Research Needs and Future Directions

Authored by Schreibman, L. in J Autism Dev Disord., Volume 30, Issue 5, p. 373-378, (2000).

Article summary (posted Oct 19, 2006):

This article gives an overview of several factors that affect the success of the applied behavior analysis (ABA) approach to treating autism.

The author divides her discussion, which is aimed at ABA practitioners, into three parts: â??What we Know;â? â??What is Not Known;â? and â??What we Need.â? What is known is that intensive (5-8 hours per day) behavioral treatment started early (before 4 years old) can result in significant improvements in behavior. These improvements generalize better when parents are trained in ABA and when the environment in which children are trained is as close to everyday life as possible. What is not known is: how to develop treatment programs tailored to each child; what affects the likelihood that ABA treatment will help a child improve; and how to apply these principles to older children with autism. Finally, the author states that what we need is well-designed research targeted at determining which of the ABA treatment features enhance the outcome of treatment.

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You can access the original abstract and the complete paper is sometimes available for free via Google Scholar (look for entries that say "PDF").
applied behavior analysis (ABA), autism, environment, generalization, genetic, intensive, parent, treatment
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