Therapies for Autism

• Speech and language therapy
• Visual schedules
• Sensory integration therapy
  
• Applied behavior analysis therapy
• Social story therapy
  
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin B6 and magnesium
• Essential fatty acids
• Picture exchange communication system (PECS)
• Casein-free diet
• Gluten-free diet

There are many different therapies that can be used to help a child with autism. While there is no one therapy that is right for all children, most experts agree on three things:

1. therapy should begin as young as possible
2. therapy should be tailored to the specific needs of the child
3. therapy should be reevaluated as the child develops

As a parent, you have three precious resources: time, money, and love. We offer this Web site to help you draw on these resources in the most efficient way in order to help your child. To that end, we have summarized the most popular therapies that are used with children with autism. We also attempt to determine whether or not these therapies are likely to be safe and effective. Remember, every child is unique. You and your team are in the best position to determine whether or not a therapy is working for your child.

The fact sheets include a review of the scientific evidence supporting the use of each particular therapy as well as a list of resources should you choose to implement the therapy. We have chosen our therapies based upon a publication describing the percentage of parents using each particular therapy to treat their child with autism (Green 2006). We are beginning with the most commonly used therapies and will be gradually adding more obscure therapies. Click on the links below to read about the following popular therapies for autism:

• Speech and language therapy (used by 70% of parents)
• Visual schedules (used by 43.2% of parents)
• Sensory integration therapy (used by 38.2% of parents)
• Applied behavior analysis therapy - ABA (used by 36.4% of parents)
• Social story therapy (used by 36.1% of parents)
• Vitamin C (used by 30.8% of parents)
• Vitamin B6 and magnesium (used by approximately 30% of parents)
• Essential fatty acids (used by 28.7% of parents)
• Picture exchange communication systems (used by 27.6% of children)
• Casein-free diet (used by 26.8% of parents)
• Gluten-free diet (used by 23.1% of parents)
• Vitamin A (used by 22.0% of parents)
• Cognitive/behavioral therapy (used by 21.3% of parents)
• Probiotics (used by 20.5% of parents)
• Discrete trial training (used by 18.7% of parents)
• Music therapy (used by 16.0% of parents)
• Mega-vitamin therapy (used by 15.8% of parents)
• TEACHH (used by 15.7% of parents)
• DMG (dimethylglycine) (used by 14.0% of parents)