How would you know if a treatment program is appropriate for your child who has autism? That question is not easy to answer. However, there are some general guidelines for evaluating various treatment approaches for autism.
Firstly, you have to approach every new treatment with hopeful skepticism. The treatment should help the person with autism become a fully functional and independent member of society.
Secondly, beware of the following:
1. Any program or technique that is publicized as effective or desirable for every person with autism.
2. Any program that thwarts individualization and potentially results in harmful program decisions.
3. That any treatment represents one of several options for a person with autism.
4. That treatment should always depend on individual assessment information that points to it as an appropriate choice for a particular child.
5. That no new treatment should be implemented until its proponents can specify assessment procedures necessary to determine whether it will be appropriate for an individual with autism
6. That debate over use of various techniques are often reduced to superficial arguments over who is right, moral and ethical and who is a true advocate for the children. This can lead to results that are directly opposite to those intended including impediments to maximizing programs.
7. That often new treatments have not been validated scientifically.
Here are some questions you should ask regarding specific treatment for autism:
Will the treatment result in harm to the child? How will failure of the treatment affect my child and family? Has the treatment been validated scientifically? Are there assessment procedures specified? How will the treatment be integrated into the child's current program?
