Abstract
It is now well recognized that early diagnosis and intervention improves the prognosis for children with autism. It is crucial that professionals be aware and sensitive to the needs of autistic persons and their families. We must never lose sight of the long-term goal of treatment and must not become so infatuated with any one treatment that we fail to provide the education parents need. It is incumbent upon us, as professionals, to educate parents and help them evaluate the myriad of information with which they are bombarded. In this article a framework for thinking about autism and principles of evaluation are reviewed. Components of appropriate early intervention programs are then described and guidelines for evaluating alternative treatments are provided.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Akerley, M. (1988). What's in a name? In E. Schopler & G. Mesibov (Eds.), Diagnosis and assessment in autism. New York: Plenum Press.
American Psychiatric Association. (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., Rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Campbell, M., Schopler, E., Cueva, J. E., & Hollin, A. (1996). Treatment of autistic disorder. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35, 134–143.
Dahl, E. K., Cohen, D. J., & Provence, S. (1986). Clinical and multi-variate approaches to the nosology of pervasive developmental disorder. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 25, 170–180.
Dahlgren, S. O., & Gillberg, C. (1989). Symptoms in the first two years of life. European Archives of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences, 238, 169–174.
Freeman, B. J., Rahbar, B., Ritvo, E. R., Bice, T. L., Yokota, A., & Ritvo, R. (1991). The stability of cognitive and behavioral parameters in autism: a twelve year prospective study. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30, 479–482.
Freeman, B. J., Ritvo, E. R., Needleman, R., & Yokota, A. (1985). Stability of cognitive and linguistic parameters autism: a five-year prospective study of autism. Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 459–464.
Gillberg, C. (1990). Infantile autism: diagnosis and treatment. Acta Psychiatrica Scandanavica, 81, 209–215.
Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child, 2, 217–280.
Konstantareas, M. M. (1989). After diagnosis, what? Some possible problems and diagnostic assessments. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 34, 549–553.
Lovaas, O. I. (1987). Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 3–9.
Philippart, M. (1986). Clinical recognition of Rett Syndrome. American Journal of Medical Genetics, 24, 111–118.
Powers, M. D. (1992). Early intervention for children with autism. In D. E. Berkell (Ed.), Autism: Identification, education and treatment. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Ritvo, E. R., & Freeman, B. J. (1978). National Society for Autistic Children definition of the syndrome of autism. Journal of American Academy of Child Psychology, 4, 146–148.
Ritvo, E. R., Freeman, B. J., Mason-Brothers, A., & Ritvo, A. (1994). Clinical characteristics of mild autism in adult. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 35, 149–156.
Ritvo, E. R., Mason-Brothers, A., Freeman, B. J., Ongree, C., Jenson, W. R., McMahon, W. M., Petersen, P. B., Jorde, L. B., Mo, A., & Ritvo, A. (1990). The UCLA-University of Utah epidemiological survey of autism: The etiologic role of rare diseases. American Journal Psychiatry, 147, 1614–1621.
Rutter, M. (1970). Autistic children—infancy to adulthood. Seminars in Psychiatry, 2, 435–450.
Schopler, E., & Mesibov, G. (1987). Neurobiological issues in autism. New York: Plenum Press.
Venter, A., Lord, C., & Schopler, E. (1992) A follow-up study of high-functioning autistic children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 33, 489–507.
Volkmar, F. L., Klin, A., Siegel, B., Satzmore, D., Lord, C., Campbell, M., Freeman, B.J., Cicchetti, D., & Butler, M. (1994). DSM-IV Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorder Field Trial. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1361–1367.
Vostonis, P., Smith, B., Chung, M. C., & Corbett, J. (1994). Early detection of childhood autism: A review of screening instruments and rating scales. Child: Care Health and Development, 20, 165–177.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Freeman, B.J. Guidelines for Evaluating Intervention Programs for Children with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 27, 641–651 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025850715183
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025850715183