Interventions in school, home, and community for individuals with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

Over the past several years, society has been witness to attempts to quantify effectiveness. Triggered, in part, by federal and state governments and funding agencies as a means of assessing accountability, the term evidence-based has been applied to multiple entities, including medicine, management, mental health, and education. The area of autism spectrum disorders has also experienced this phenomenon as illustrated by the publication of four reports that have attempted to identify evidence-based practice (EBP) for children and youth with this exceptionality. This chapter will briefly (a) review the criteria used in these publications, (b) overview and describe interventions identified across the various reports, (c) briefly describe the interventions, and (d) provide a context for using EBPs.