Handbook of Evidence-Based Practices in Autism Spectrum Disorder

The handbook examines the empirical status of interventions and treatments for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It offers an insightful and balanced perspective on topics ranging from the historical underpinnings of autism treatment to the use of psychopharmacology and the implementation of EBPs. The book reviews the conceptualization of evidence-based practices (EBPs) as well as considerations for implementing such practices across settings. In addition, it describes emerging treatments - though they cannot yet be considered evidence-based - that have produced limited but highly promising results. The book also describes treatments and therapies that have been proved ineffective. It explores ways in which EBPs can be applied in inclusive school settings, pedatric settings, in-patient treatment progams, and college-based programs for transition-aged youth. The volume describes outcomes from the development of EBP guidelines at the national level (in Scotland) and, more broadly, in the United States and outlines how such guidelines can be adapted to offer more individualized intervention.

Key areas of coverage include:

• Comprehensive treatment models, including early intensive behavioral intervention, pivotal response treatment, Early Start Denver Model, and Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions.
• Focal treatments addressing the core deficits of ASD and its co-occuring conditions.
• Social skills, communication, and the use of applied behavior analysis (ABA) practices for teaching new skills and decreasing challenging behaviors.
• Sensory-based interventions, psychopharmacology, cognitive behavior therapy, and parent education programs (e.g., Project ImPACT).

The Handbook of Evidence-Based Practices in Autism Spectrum Disorder is an invaluable resource for researchers, professors, and graduate students as well as clinicians, therapists, and all professionals working in the fields of developmental, clinical child, and school psychology, pediatrics, social work, behavior analysis, allied health sciences, public health, child and adolescent psychiatry, early childhood intervention, and general and special education.

Brian Reichow, Ph.D., is Associate Director for Research and Evaluation at the University of Connecticut Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Education, Research, and Service and Associate Professor of Child and Family Studies in the Department of Public Health Sciences at UConn Health in Farmington Connecticut. Dr. Reichow’s current research interests include the translation of research to practice, the use of systematic review methods and meta-analytic methods to identify evidence-based practices, and applied research involving young children with or at risk of developing disabilities and their families. He has been a technical advisor for the World Health Organization for over a decade, assisting with the development of practice guidelines and training materials to increase the identification, management, and treatment of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in lower- and middle-income countries. Dr. Reichow is the current Editor of the Disability Coordinating Group of the Campbell Collaboration and Campbell Systematic Reviews and was Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal of Early Intervention from 2019-2024. He also serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and Topics in Early Childhood Special Education. Widely published, Dr. Reichow has authored over 100 scholarly works. Prior to his graduate and post-doctoral studies at Vanderbilt University and Yale University, respectively, Dr. Reichow received degrees in elementary education and psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was a teacher of students with autism in early care and education settings and public elementary schools in North Carolina.

Peter Doehring, Ph.D., After a career leading school-, hospital-, and university-based programs in the USA and Canada helping people with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Peter now works as an independent researcher and advocate for better policies and programs at the local, state, and national level, while continuing to publish and present internationally.  His focus broadened to children and parents facing the most significant levels of disability when his daughter Margot was born in 2000 with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, cerebral palsy, partial blindness, and a seizure disorder. His work now includes demonstrating how to use evidence-based practices to support people with disabilities in recreation, community volunteering, and environmental stewardship.  He has also been active in advocating for legislative changes at the state level, contributing to the passage of important legislation in both Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Fred R. Volkmar, M.D., is the Dorothy Goodwin Family Chair in Special Education at Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT, USA and the Irving B. Harris Professor Emeritus of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Psychology at the Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven Connecticut. An international authority on Asperger’s disorder and autism, Dr. Volkmar was the primary author of the DSM-IV autism and pervasive developmental disorders section. He has authored several hundred scientific papers and has co-edited numerous books, including Asperger Syndrome, Healthcare for Children on the Autism Spectrum: A Guide to Medical, Nutritional, and Behavioral Issues, and the forthcoming fifth revision of the Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders. He serves as associate editor of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and the American Journal of Psychiatry. He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders for 15 years. He also has served as co-chairperson of the autism and intellectual and developmental disability committee of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He has also served as editor of the Encyclopedia of Autism now in its 2nd edition.