New directions in behavioral treatment of autism spectrum disorders
Open accessAbstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The review explores current trends in the behavioral intervention literature for children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during 2008 and 2009. Noteworthy findings and intervention strategies are highlighted. Additionally, the quality of all reviewed studies is systematically evaluated. RECENT FINDINGS: During 2008 and 2009, there was nearly a quarter increase in the number of behavioral intervention studies, as well as more randomized controlled trials and approaches other than applied behavior analysis. Many of the studies investigated commonly used ASD intervention practices or novel treatments. A few were conducted with underserved populations, such as toddlers and adults with ASD. Social impairment was the focus of the largest number of intervention studies. A small percentage of studies were rated as high-quality. SUMMARY: Overall, the reviewed studies suggest that ASD-specific deficits can be improved through behavioral intervention. However, whereas progress continues to be made in our understanding of effective treatments for children with ASD, confidence in these findings would be improved with higher-quality studies.
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Later programs focusing on functional analysis of problem behaviors were more successful in addressing core deficits.
“Later programs focusing on the functional (that is, contextual) analysis of problem behaviors were more successful in addressing core deficits [3,5,6,32,42,190-196].”
From Social “wanting” dysfunction in autism: neurobiological underpinnings and treatment implications (2012) · cites this paper as [190]
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“Isolation of the active ingredients in the intervention through comparison of outcomes following treatment with specific modules of UOT will allow streamlining this relatively lengthy intervention (Kasari & Lawton, 2010).”
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- Authors
- Kasari, C., & Lawton, K.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kasari, Connie
- ORCID
- Kasari, Connie
- Venue
- Current Opinion in Neurology
- Published
- 2010-04
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 137-143
- ISSN
- 1350-7540 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4324974
- OpenAlex
- W2091432340
- Cited by
- 82
- References
- 77
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 0.77
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Current Opinion in Neurology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Public Health Service (UA3MC11055)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH084864)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Behavioral and Psychological Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, behavioral interventions, applied behavior analysis, social dysfunction, toddlers, autistic adults, treatment quality, randomized controlled trials
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Behavior Therapy, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Child, Preschool, Humans
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