ABSTRACT
Numerous studies have suggested that the prevalence of diagnosed autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has increased dramatically in recent decades. A report based on a 2007 national survey of parents of children ages 3 to 17 years suggested that the prevalence of diagnosed ASD is higher than previous U.S. estimates. The prevalence was 110 per 10,000 children (1.1%), representing an estimated 673,000 U.S. children 3 to 17 years with a current diagnosis of ASD. Interestingly, for nearly 40% of all the children reported to have ever had an ASD diagnosis, a parent or caregiver reported a past but not current ASD diagnosis (Kogan, Blumberg, Schieve et al., 2009). Between this prevalence and the substantial increased social awareness of ASD through advocacy groups, our schools, and the media, it is predictable that providers of child health care will have ongoing contact with more than just a few children who are “on the spectrum” and who present and reflect unique challenges and problems in addition to the usual diversity of issues encountered during development and acclimation to their society. Here we ask how children on the autism spectrum can benefit from hypnosis and hypnotherapy and how hypnosis for this group of children is the same or different from their more typically developing peers.
