Defining Evidence-Based Practice and Autism Spectrum Disorders

The proliferation of “effective” interventions for autistic individuals presents an incredible challenge to families and clinicians. Many families and autistic individuals scour websites looking for treatments to aid in the development of communication skills, alleviate behavioral deficits, and manage daily challenges. The importance of disseminating information on reliable evidence-based interventions (EBIs) to professionals and families using accessible language cannot be understated. EBIs for individuals with autism are identified by various research groups and organizations in the United States using systematic reviews or meta-analyses to evaluate and categorize included studies. The current chapter elucidates the methodology, findings, and limitations of research identifying EBIs for autism. The discussion is organized into behavioral interventions, naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI), and pharmacological interventions. Most behavioral interventions highlighted are based on the science of applied behavior analysis (ABA), while the NDBIs include an integration of strategies from developmental psychology and ABA. Research regarding medications to remediate undesirable behaviors often associated with autism is lacking when compared to the abundance of behavioral research. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of issues families and autistic individuals face accessing care and the need for additional high-quality research.