Classroom Interventions for Youth with Pervasive Developmental Disorders/Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

A large literature has amassed over the past three decades describing numerous advances in evidence-based practices (EBP) for those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Many of these practices are components of the classroom- and center-based programs described in this chapter. These practices, alone or in combination with other practices, were designed to remedy the qualitative impairments in social interaction and communication and reduce restrictive, repetitive, or stereotypic behaviors that characterize the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This chapter will illustrate exemplar programs from behavioral and developmental classroom programs for school-aged children with ASD according to the support found and, when possible, in a logical sequence whereby the limitations of one program are accounted for in the strengths of the next. Within each program narrative is a cursory description of the intervention, the philosophical premise, and the empirical support demonstrating the intervention's efficacy for students with ASD. The programs represented in this chapter are not an exhaustive list of the behavioral and developmental approaches available in school- and center-based settings, but are illustrative of their respective approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)