ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the different issues in assessment and intervention planning for people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), including persisting core deficits after treatment, cultural differences in family language use, and sensory integration impairments that affect behavior and feeding. ASD is a developmental disability distinguished by early emerging core deficits in social interaction and communication that affects development into adulthood. The behavioral and educational interventions have been frequently used to target the core symptoms of ASD, rather than administration of biomedical treatments. The chapter describes the state of evidence for diagnostic assessment and communication/social interaction treatment of ASD across settings and the lifespan. Hence, some people with ASD can better focus on salient components of behaviors via video models, as the interventionist can reduce distractions in the video context. The chapter describes the higher levels of evidence, established or emerging, according to the National Standards Report.