Addressing many of the controversial questions on diagnosis and treatment facing clinicians who deal with ASD, this book explores a wealth of much-debated topics including the very latest evidence-based research on early intensive behavioral intervention.

Current rates of autism diagnoses have been cause for concern and research as well as rumor and misinformation. Important questions surround the condition: how early can an accurate diagnosis be made? At what age should intervention start? How can parents recognize warning signs? And what causes autism in the first place?

There are no easy answers, but the Handbook of Early Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders gives researchers, practitioners, and academics the science and guidance to better understand and intervene. Background chapters survey the history of professional understanding of the disorders and the ongoing debate over autism as a single entity or a continuum. Chapters on best methods in screening, assessment, and diagnosis reflect the transition between the DSM-V and older diagnostic criteria. And at the heart of the book, the intervention section ranges from evidence-based strategies for developing core skills to ethical concerns, cultural considerations, and controversial treatments.

Included in the Handbook's broad-based coverage:

• Designing curriculum programs for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
• Mainstream education for children with ASD.
• Teaching independent living skills to children with ASD.
• Social skills and play.
• Behavioral and mental health disorders in children with ASD.
• Training and supporting caregivers in evidence-based practices.
• Teaching cognitive skills to children with ASD.

The Handbook of Early Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders is a comprehensive reference for researchers, professors, and graduate students as well as clinicians and other scientist-practitioners in clinical childand school psychology, child and adolescent psychiatry, social work, rehabilitation, special education, and pediatric medicine.

Part 1: Diagnosis and Background.- 1. Evolution of Autism: From Kanner to the DSM-V.- 2. Autism Spectrum Disorders: Several Disorders on a Continuum or One?.- 3. Related Disorders.- 4. Assessment of the Core Features of ASD.- 5. Measures Used to Screen and Diagnose ASD in Young Children.- 6. Psychological Theories of Childhood Autism.- 7. Family Adaptation to a Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.- Part 2: Intervention.- 8. Ethical Issues in Early Intervention.- 9. Economics of Autism Spectrum Disorders.- 10. Designing Curriculum Programs for Children with Autism.- 11. Reinforcement Arrangements for Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder.- 12. Discrete Trial Teaching and Discrimination Training.- 13. Natural Environment Training.- 14. Picture Activity Schedules.- 15. Use of Visual Supports with Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.- 16. Teaching Verbal Behavior to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.- 17. Social Skills and Play in Children with Autism.- 18. Teaching Cognitive Skills to Children with Autism.- 19. Teaching Independent Living Skills to Children with ASD.- 20. Developmental Approaches.- 21. Recovery and Prevention.- 22. Mainstream Education for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.- 23. Controversial Treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorders.- 24. Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.- 25. Management of General Medical Conditions.- 26. Behavioral Disorders in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.- 27. Mental Health Disorders in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.- 28. Training and Supporting Caregivers in Evidence-Based Practices.- 29. Multicultural and Minority Issues.