Psychosocial treatments for children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Given the situation where various psychosocial treatments for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are proposed and body of treatment outcome studies for ASD are accumulated, this study purported to review psychosocial treatments for children with ASD that currently receive empirical supports. To address these purposes, the study focused on the three types of psychosocial treatments frequently observed in ASD literature (behavioral interventions, social-communication skills interventions, and parent training interventions), and reviewed research findings pertaining to each of these interventions. Toward the end, clinically useful findings were emphasized, important clinical and research issues were discussed, and directions for future treatment outcome studies were provided.