The substantial demand for behavior-analytic treatment of early childhood autism has been associated with rapid dissemination of treatment procedures to practitioners and caregivers. This level of demand could plausibly induce premature dissemination of treatments that do not yet have sufficient empirical support. We argue that this might have…

This conceptual paper considers the role of culture in shaping family, professional, and community understanding of developmental disabilities and their treatments. The meanings of health, illness, and disability vary greatly across cultures and across time. We use Bronfenbrenner's ecological model to provide a theoretical framework for examining…

In this article, the author shares his journey with autism which began when his son, David Braxton Hughes Lowe, was diagnosed in September of 2005. It was the confirmation of suspicions that he had had since he was about a year old. As a father and a physician, this was a particularly disheartening sequence of events. Over the next few months, he…

The author reviews the history of the behavioral approach in treatment of autistic children and contrasts aspects of the disease or illness model with the learning or behavioral model. He states that the disease model failed in identifying the cause and in providing effective treatment for autism. (CL)

This article reviews the negative behavior-analytic commentary on Drash and Tudor's behavior-analytic analysis of the etiology of autistic repertoires and values. This article also asks that, in our effort to scrub it clean, we not drown Drash and Tudor's beautiful, but fragile, new-born, behavior-analytic baby in hyper-methodological,…

This article discusses issues related to the use of applied behavior analysis (ABA) with students who have autism-related disabilities. These include: implementation forms, outcome expectations, exclusive versus selective use of ABA, time-related considerations, and personnel requirements for effective ABA implementation, evaluation, and…

This introductory article to this special issue on the use of applied behavior analysis (ABA) with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) notes the 40-year history of ABA strategy development, verification, and generalization. It briefly introduces the following articles, which are intended to illustrate the range of ABA applications and the depth of…

This article reviews a book, "Teaching Kids and Adults with Autism: Building the Framework for Lifetime Learning," (Kathleen McConnell Fad and L. Rozelle Moulton) designed to provide parents and educators with information concerning some of the numerous options available in educating children and adults with autism. It finds the information…

The authors of a study reported in EC 605 442, which indicated long-term gains for children with autism who experienced intensive behavioral intervention as preschoolers, describe study replication efforts and reply to criticisms raised in commentaries in EC 605 443-447. (JDD)

This article describes several features important in the success of using a behavioral model when treating individuals with autism and presents remaining issues to be addressed for improving treatment effectiveness. It urges future research to include strict empirical designs that allow for sound inferences regarding the parameters of treatment…

The possibility of differential sex proportions as a confounding factor in the Lovaas (1987) study is raised. It is argued that the chi-square analysis was inadequate and that the appropriate comparison should be made between the experimental and the control group using population data to estimate expected cell frequencies. (Author/CR)

This commentary finds that the study reported in EC 605 442, which indicated long-term gains for children with autism who experienced intensive behavioral intervention as preschoolers, is reliable, correct, and important. The commentary supports the use of quasi-random assignment to experimental or control group when truly random assignment is not…

This article discusses the contributions of applied behavior analysis (ABA) in effective instruction of students with autism spectrum disorders. Emphasis is on the use of antecedent interventions and curriculum-based assessment. It also notes that the principles and methods of ABA are being integrated into routine educational procedures, including…

This commentary argues that the study reported in EC 605 442, which indicated long-term gains for children with autism who experienced intensive behavioral intervention as preschoolers, needs to be replicated to be convincing, especially given the problem of nonrandom assignment of experimental and control groups. (JDD)

Drash and Tudor's argument that autism is a contingency-shaped disorder of verbal behavior is logical and consistent with behavioral principles, but the argument's premises have no direct empirical support and some conflicting evidence. The quantity and quality of research needed to support such a theory is compared to that found in the area of…