Caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder are vulnerable to overstated benefits of interventions, and such overstatements are common with interventions involving animals. This response to Wright, Hall, Hames, Hardmin, Mills, the Paws Team, and Mills' (2015) article, "Acquiring a Pet Dog Significantly Reduces Stress of Primary…

The purpose of this letter to the editor is to comment on several review papers recently published in the current "Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Special Issue on Technology: Software, Robotics, and Translational Science." These reviews address a variety of aspects relating to technology-aided intervention and instruction…

This paper urges advancement and refinement in the assessment of people with autistic disorders to include evaluation of additional psychiatric conditions which are frequently present, especially in lower-functioning autistic individuals. Implications of more comprehensive assessment for behavioral and medical intervention are discussed. (DB)

To illustrate the possible relationships between metabolic disorders and autism, this commentary reviews findings from studies on the characteristics of individuals with Rett syndrome that indicate the genetic mechanism of transcriptional dysregulation can produce pathologic phenotypes which resemble metabolic disorders that stunt axonodendritic…

Research prospects and priorities in autism are discussed with respect to: (1) diagnosis, classification, and epidemiology; (2) clinical research; (3) neuropsychological research; (4) genetics; (5) structural and functional brain imaging; (6) postmortem studies; (7) other biological research; and (8) treatment research. Application of research…

This commentary uses self-injurious behavior to illustrate the approach of the functional analysis of behavior as a guide to rational treatment strategies for individuals with autism, and to show that the characteristics of the clinical presentations can provide clues for underlying mechanisms that can be used for research and treatment. (Contains…

This commentary on research findings that indicate immunological abnormalities in children with autism, discusses the lack of evidence indicating autoantibodies specifically affect the vulnerable neuronal networks or synaptic functions of individuals with autism to account for the cognitive and behavioral symptoms of the disorder. (Contains…

This article reviews research on social interventions that facilitate socialization in children with autism. It urges researchers to measure not only the social interaction skills of young people with autism but also the social exchanges of their typical peers in order to better structure teaching activities for youngsters with autism. (Contains…

This commentary discusses the wide acceptance of and the expenditure of limited resources on unproven behavioral therapies for individuals with autism. Considerations that need to be reviewed before adopting a behavioral treatment are outlined, including the need to establish whether direct effects can be attributed to a treatment. (Contains 11…

This critique of facilitated communication as an aid for individuals with autism reviews its use in Australia and discusses such issues as the high degree of physical intervention provided by the assistant and the unlikely language content exhibited. An editorial comment deplores the media hype promoting facilitated communication but admits its…

This article comments on results of a study (EC 629 869) on the reliability of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT), a early detection screening test. It discusses concerns relating to clinic vs. population samples, data analysis, use of a parent questionnaire only to identify autism, and the age of screening. (Contains…

This article responds to comments (EC 629 869-70) on a study on the reliability of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT), a early detection screening test. It addresses concerns relating to clinic vs. population samples, data analysis, use of a parent questionnaire only to identify autism, and the age of screening. (Contains 6…

The consensus statement of a panel of experts on treatment of destructive and self-injurious behaviors in persons with developmental disabilities addresses such areas as approaches used to manage these behaviors; evidence for the effectiveness of various approaches; the risks and benefits of the various approaches; recommendations; and needed…

This paper reviews the efficacy of aversive interventions in the treatment of individuals with developmental disabilities. It also considers the ethical and legal issues involved and concludes that there is empirical, ethical, and legal support for the continued availability of aversive interventions as treatment options if sufficient safeguards…

The comment on a paper about the use of aversive interventions with developmentally disabled persons (EC 602 022) questions the effectiveness of aversive interventions and suggests effective nonaversive or less aversive interventions can usually be found. (DB)