Autism: History and Diagnosis

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been described in the clinical and research literature for decades and presents many clinical challenges. ASD has been poorly understood, and many misconceptions exist about its nature and etiology and about the components of effective treatment. ASD is characterized by deficits in social and communication skills and by repetitive behaviors. The variability within ASD is significant, but these characteristics are universally present. Effective treatments for the defining features of ASD exist and lead to socially significant changes in the lives of individuals with ASD. Social and communication interventions include the use of discrete trial instruction, incidental teaching and other naturalistic procedures, and video modeling. Functional communication training has led to major behavioral and communicative improvements as well. Challenging behaviors, including self‐injury and aggression, have been successfully treated with a variety of behavior‐analytic interventions. Effective intervention requires an understanding of the function of the challenging behavior, and function‐based treatment is essential. Behavior analysis provides the most effective means of conceptualizing and treating ASD, both in terms of addressing social and communicative skill deficits and in terms of reducing the interference posed by challenging behaviors.