of this study showed that children in an intensive ABA program produced significant improvement across all four areas compared to the children who received eclectic and non-intensive treatments. The study even found that the children who received non-intensive early intervention showed a regression. What about children with autism who enter treatment at a later age? There is some evidence that these children also benefit substantially from ABA instruction when compared to children who participated in other interventions of similar intensity (Eikeseth, Smith, Jahr, & Eldevik, 2002). The researchers examined the progress of 25 4-7 year olds who received either intensive behavioral treatment or intensive eclectic treatment in public school settings. The results indicated that children who participated in intensive behavioral treatment made large improvements across all measured skill areas (i.e., cognitive, visual- spatial, language, and adaptive behavior skills) as compared to those children who received intensive eclectic treatment. The same is likely to be true for adults with autism. While there are well-documented effects of behavioral assessment and intervention strategies on improved functioning for adults with autism (McClannahan, MacDuff, & Krantz, 2002), there are limited long-term data on intensive programs for adults. However, it is clear that many adults experience real and substantial gains come from ABA intervention. Thus, it stands to reason that ABA remains a central and effective component of services for individuals of all ages with autism. Early and intensive ABA programming is cost effective and potentially life changing for individuals and their families (Jacobson, Mulick, & Green, 1998). Why not turn to science and get the best available treatment? When you review the results of the research, you will find ABA.
for Children with Disabilities (MADSEC) Autism Taskforce, 1999; New York State Department of Health, 1999; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1999). Additionally, the United States Congress commissioned a panel of autism experts to publish a state of the research on autism and provide recommendations for public policy and future research (National Research Council, 2001). While they recognized the contribution of a behavior-based approach in autism treatment, they pointed out the lack of comparison studies of among this and other popular treatments. The results from this type of study would shed more definitive light on the question of which treatment was the best. They stressed the importance of conducting studies that directly compared interventions so that educators and parents could select the most effective treatment for an individual with autism. Since then, two comparison studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals. While there are limits to how much information can be gleaned from only two studies (described below), the results tells us more about the effectiveness of ABA. How does ABA compare to other treatments? Howard, Sparkman, Cohen, Green, & Stainslaw (2005) published a study on the effects of three different treatment approaches used within early intervention. Sixty-one young children with autism spectrum disorders received one of three treatment procedures: a) intensive behavior analytic intervention, b) intensive eclectic intervention which was a combination of popular methods, or c) non-intensive public early intervention. The children were an average of 34 months old when they entered the study. The study measured each child’s skills before and after a 14-month intervention in the areas of: a) cognitive, b) non-verbal, c) receptive/expressive language, and d) adaptive skills. The results
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Introduction
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