ABSTRACT

One of the largest and most complex human services systems in history has evolved to address the needs of people with autism and intellectual disabilities, yet important questions remain for many professionals, administrators, and parents. What approaches to early intervention, education, treatment, therapy, and remediation really help those with autism and other intellectual disabilities improve their functioning and adaptation? Alternatively, what approaches represent wastes of time, effort, and resources?

Controversial Therapies for Autism and Intellectual Disabilities, 2nd Edition brings together leading behavioral scientists and practitioners to shed much-needed light on the major controversies surrounding these questions. Expert authors review the origins, perpetuation, and resistance to scrutiny of questionable practices, and offer a clear rationale for appraising the quality of various services.

The second edition of Controversial Therapies for Autism and Intellectual Disabilities has been fully revised and updated and includes entirely new chapters on psychology fads, why applied behavioral analysis is not a fad, rapid prompting, relationship therapies, the gluten-free, casein-free diet, evidence based practices, state government regulation of behavioral treatment, teaching ethics, and a parents’ primer for autism treatments.

part I|42 pages

General Issues

part IV|78 pages

Disorder- and Symptom-Specific Issues

chapter Chapter 11|27 pages

Autism

A Twenty-First Century Fad Magnet

chapter Chapter 12|13 pages

Helping Parents Separate the Wheat From the Chaff

Putting Autism Treatments to the Test

chapter Chapter 13|14 pages

A Map Through the Minefield

A Parent's Primer to Find Autism Treatment That Works!

part V|188 pages

Intervention-Specific Issues

chapter Chapter 16|13 pages

Auditory Integration Training

A Critical Review (1991–2014)

chapter Chapter 17|20 pages

Facilitated Communication

The Ultimate Fad Treatment

chapter Chapter 18|19 pages

Positive Behavior Support

A Paternalistic Utopian Delusion

chapter Chapter 21|10 pages

Pet Me, Sniff Me, Squeeze Me

Quack Treatment for Autism

chapter Chapter 23|38 pages

Old Horses in New Stables

Rapid Prompting, Facilitated Communication, Science, Ethics, and the History of Magic

part VI|96 pages

Ethical, Legal, and Political Concerns

chapter Chapter 28|16 pages

Teaching Ethics in Behavior Analysis

Philosophy, Methods, and Resources

chapter |6 pages

Afterword

A Decade Later