Autism is a behaviorally defined disorder that comprises a controversial diagnostic category due to heterogeneity in symptomatology, causation, and etiology and significant variance in response to intervention. In this article, the authors provide a brief overview of the clinical category and a summary of diagnostic developments with respect to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.Regarding causation and etiology, they briefly discuss selected perspectives from the fields of cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology. The article concludes with a summary of effective behavioral strategies for the treatment of children with autism. This section highlights the importance of early intensive behavioral intervention and includes a discussion of some important aspects of this approach.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American Psychiatric Association . (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd. ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
2.
American Psychiatric Association . (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd. ed., rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
3.
American Psychiatric Association . (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
4.
Baron-Cohen, S. (1995) Mindblindness: An essay on autism and theory of mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
5.
Baron-Cohen, S. , & Swettenham, J. (1997). Theory of mind in autism: Its relationship to executive function and central coherence. In D. J. Cohen & F. R. Volkmar (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive disorders. New York: John Wiley.
6.
Bateson, P.P.G. (1979). How do sensitive periods arise and what are they for?Animal Behavior, 27, 470-486.
7.
Bauman, M. L. , & Kemper, T. L. (1994) The neurobiology of autism. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
8.
Bettelheim, B. (1967). The empty fortress. New York: Free Press.
9.
Binder, C. (1996). Behavioral fluency: Evolution of a new paradigm. Behavior Analyst, 19, 163-197.
10.
Dawson, G. , & Lewy, A. (1989). Reciprocal subcortical-cortical influences in autism: The role of attentional mechanisms. In G. Dawson (Ed.), Autism, nature, diagnosis, and treatment. New York: Guilford.
11.
Donahoe, J. W. , & Palmer, D. C. (1994). Learning and complex behavior. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
12.
Eaves, C. L. , Ho, H. H., & Eaves, M. D. (1994). Subtypes of autism by cluster analysis. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 24, 3-23.
13.
Edelman, G. M. (1992). Bright air, brilliant fire: On the matter of the mind. New York: Basic Books.
14.
Epstein, R. (1996). Cognition, creativity, and behavior. Westport, CT: Praeger.
15.
Factor, D. C. , Freeman, N. L., & Kardach, A. (1989). Brief report: A comparison of DSM-III and DSM-III-R criteria for autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 19, 637-639.
16.
Fein, D. , Pennington, B., Markowitz, P., Braverman, M., & Waterhouse, L. (1986). Toward a neuropsychological model of infantile autism: Are social deficits primary?Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 25 (2), 198-212.
17.
Frith, U. (1989). Autism explaining the enigma. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
18.
Frith, U. , & Baron-Cohen, S. (1987). Perception in autistic children. In D. J. Cohen, & M. Donellan (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders. New York: John Wiley.
19.
Gillberg, C. (1989). Autism: Diagnosis and treatment. London: Plenum.
20.
Gillberg, C. (1992). The biology of the autistic syndromes (2nd ed., Clinics in Developmental Medicine No. 126). London: MacKeith.
21.
Gillberg, C. (1993). Autism and related behaviours. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 37, 343-372.
22.
Green, G. (1999). Science and ethics in early intervention for autism. In P. M. Ghezzi, W. L. Williams, & J. E. Carr (Eds.), Autism: Behavior analytic perspectives. Reno, NV: Context Press.
23.
Green, L. , Fein, D., Joy, S., & Waterhouse, L. (1995). Cognitive functioning in autism: An overview. In E. Schopler & G. B. Mesibov (Eds.), Learning and cognition in autism. New York: Plenum.
24.
Hayes, S. C. (1989). Rule-governed behavior: Cognition, contingencies, and instructional control. New York: Plenum.
25.
Hayes, S. C. (1994). Relational frame theory: A Functional approach to verbal events. In S. C. Hayes, L. J. Hayes, M. Sato, & K. Ono (Eds.), Behavior analysis of language and cognition. Reno, NV: Context Press.
26.
Hayes, S. C. , Hayes, L. J., Sato, M., & Ono, K. (1994). Behavior analysis of language and cognition. Reno, NV: Context Press.
27.
Hermelin, B. , & O’Connor, N. (1970). Psychological experiments with autistic children. Oxford, UK: Pergamon.
28.
Hertzig, M. , Snow, M., New, E., & Shapiro, T. (1990). DSM-III and DSM-III-R diagnosis of autism and pervasive developmental disorder in nursery school children. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 29 (5), 123-126.
29.
Hobson, P. R. (1989). Beyond cognition: A theory of autism. In G. Dawson (Ed.), Autism, nature, diagnosis, and treatment. New York: Guilford.
30.
Johnson, K. R. , & Layng, T.V.J. (1992). Breaking the structuralist barrier: Literacy and numeracy with fluency. American Psychologist, 47, 1475-1490.
31.
Johnston, J. M. (1979, Fall). On the relation between generalization and generality. Behavior Analyst, 2, 1-5.
32.
Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective contact. Nervous Child, 2, 217-250.
33.
Klinger, L. G. , & Dawson, G. (1995). A fresh look at categorization abilities in persons with autism. In E. Schopler & G. B. Mesibov (Eds.), Learning and cognition in autism. New York: Plenum.
34.
Lakoff, G. (1987). Women, fire, and dangerous things: What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
35.
Leaf, R. , & McEachin, J. (1999). A work in progress: Behavior management strategies and a curriculum for intensive behavioral treatment of autism. New York: DRL Books.
36.
Leslie, A. M. (1987). Pretense and representation: The origin of “theory of mind.”Psychological Review, 94, 412-426.
37.
Lovaas, O. I. (1981). The ME book. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
38.
Lovaas, O. I. (1987). Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young children with autism. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 3-9.
39.
Lovaas, O. I. (1993). The development of a treatment-research project for developmentally disabled and autistic children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 26, 617-630.
40.
Lovaas, O. I. , Schreibman, L., Koegel, R. I., & Rehm, R. (1971). Selective responding by autistic children to multiple sensory input. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 77, 211-222.
41.
Lovaas, O. I. , & Smith, T. (1989). A comprehensive behavioral theory of autistic children: Paradigm for research and treatment. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 20, 17-29.
42.
Matson, J. L. , Benavidez, D. A., Compton, L. S., Paclawskyj, T., & Baglio, C. (1996). Behavioral treatment of autistic persons: A review of research from 1980 to the present. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 17, 433-465.
43.
McEachin, J. J. , Smith, T., & Lovaas, O. I. (1993). Long-term outcome for children with autism who received early intensive behavioral treatment. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 4, 359-372.
44.
McIlvane W. J. (1996). Social and behavioral intervention. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 147-152.
45.
Michael, J. L. (1993). Concepts and principles of behavior analysis. Kalamazoo, MI: Association for Behavior Analysis.
46.
Minshew, N. J. , Sweeney, J. A., & Bauman M. L. (1997). Neurological aspects of autism. In D. J. Cohen & F. R. Volkmar (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley.
47.
Moerk, E. L. (1992). A first language taught and learned. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.
48.
Mundy. P. , & Sigman, M. (1989). Specifying the nature of the social impairment in autism. In G. Dawson (Ed.), Autism, nature, diagnosis, and treatment. New York: Guilford.
49.
Niemann, G. W. (1996). The neurodevelopment of autism: Recent advances. ACPP Occasional Papers, No. 13, Advances in the Assessment and Management of Autism, 7-12.
50.
Ozonoff, S. , & Miller, J. N. (1995). Teaching theory of mind: A new approach to social skills training for individuals with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 25, 415-433.
51.
Ozonoff, S. , Pennington, B. F., & Rogers, S. J. (1990). Executive function deficits in high-functioning autistic individuals: Relationship to theory of mind. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 1081-1105.
52.
Premack, D. , & Woodruff, G. (1978). Do the chimpanzee have a “theory or mind?”Behaviour and Brain Sciences, 4, 515-526.
53.
Rapin, I. (1997). Classification and causal issues in autism. In D. J. Cohen & F. R. Volkmar (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders. New York: John Wiley.
54.
Rosales-Ruiz, J. , & Baer, D. M. (1997). Behavioral cusps: A developmental and pragmatic concept for behavioral analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 30, 533-544.
55.
Sidman, M. (1994). Equivalence classes: A research story. Boston: Authors Cooperative.
56.
Skinner, B. F. (1957). Verbal behavior. Acton, MA: Copley.
57.
Smith, T. (1996). Are other treatments effective? In C. Maurice, G. Green, & S. C. Luce (Eds.), Behavioral intervention for young children with autism: A manual for parents and professionals. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
58.
Spitzer, R. L. , Endicott, J. E., & Robbins, E. (1978). Research diagnostic criteria. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 773-782.
59.
Sundberg, M. L. , & Partington, J. W. (1998). Teaching language to children with autism or other developmental disorders. Pleasant Hill, CA: Behavior Analysts.
60.
Tager-Flusberg, H. (1989). A psycholinguistic perspective on language development in the autistic child. In G. Dawson (Ed.), Autism, nature, diagnosis, and treatment. New York: Guilford.
61.
Ungerer, J. A. (1989). The early development of autistic children: Implications for defining primary deficits. In G. Dawson (Ed.), Autism: Nature, diagnosis and treatment. New York: Guilford.
62.
Volkmar, F. R. (1991). Autism and the pervasive developmental disorders. In M. Lewis (Ed.), Child and adolescent psychiatry: A comprehensive textbook. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
63.
Volkmar, F. R. (1996). Brief report: Diagnostic issues in autism: Results of the DSM-IV field trial. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 26, 155-158.
64.
Volkmar, F. R. , Cicchetti, D. V., Bregman, J., & Cohen, D. J. (1992). Three diagnostic systems for autism: DSM-III, DSM-III-R, and ICD-10. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 22, 483-492.
65.
Volkmar, F. , & Cohen, D. (1988). Diagnosis of pervasive development disorders. In B. Lahey & A. Kazdin (Eds.), Advances in clinical child psychology (Vol. 2). New York: Plenum.
66.
Waterhouse, L. , & Fein, D. (1982). Language skills in developmentally disabled children. Brain and Language, 15, 307-333.
67.
Waterhouse, L. , Wing, L., & Fein, D. (1989). Re-evaluating the syndrome of autism in the light of empirical research. In G. Dawson, (Ed.), Autism: Nature, diagnosis, and treatment.New York: Guilford.
68.
Wing, L. (1980). Autistic children: A guide for parents. London: Constable.
69.
Wing, L. , & Gould, J. (1979). Severe impairments of social interaction and associated abnormalities in children: Epidemiology and classification. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 9, 11-29.
