Guidelines used by the Autism Society of America include the following
questions parents can ask about potential treatments:
Will the treatment result in harm to my 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 my child's current
program? Do not become so infatuated with a given treatment that functional
curriculum, vocational life, and social skills are ignored.
The National Institute of Mental Health suggests a list of questions
parents can ask when planning for their child:
How successful has the program been for other children?
How many children have gone on to placement in a regular school and how have they performed?
Do staff members have training and experience in working with children and adolescents with autism?
How are activities planned and organized?
Are there predictable daily schedules and routines?
How much individual attention will my child receive?
How is progress measured? Will my child's behavior be closely observed and recorded?
Will my child be given tasks and rewards that are personally motivating?
Is the environment designed to minimize distractions?
Will the program prepare me to continue the therapy at home?
What is the cost, time commitment, and location of the program?
Borrowed from Strock, M. (2004). Autism Spectrum Disorders
(Pervasive Developmental Disorders). NIH Publication No. NIH-04-5511, National Institute
of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Bethesda, MD, 40 pp. Accessed on March 19, 2006 http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/autism.cfm
