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A Selective Eating Program: MEALLS Making Eating A Lifelong Learning Skill
Feeding and eating problems, such as selective eating, is common among individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The prevalence of feeding problems in children with ASD is reported to be as high as 90%, with around 70% of individuals being described as picky eaters (Twachtman-Reilly et al.,...
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Programming for Multiple Siblings with ASD: Tips to Promote Family Success
Current data suggest that if a family has one child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), the chance their second child will also have that diagnosis is 2-18% (Autism Speaks, 2020). If the family has two or more children with ASD, the risk their next child will also have ASD increases to 30% (The...
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Examining the Challenges Service Providers Have Faced as a Result of COVID-19
COVID-19 has had devastating consequences to people and communities: tragedy at its worst; consequences beyond measure; and anxiety and uncertainty exceeding our grasp. The purpose of this article is to highlight the challenges that providers of care for persons with intellectual and developmental...
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Utilizing Digital Media to Enable Continuity of Autism Services
For over a decade there has been an abundance of professional articles and seminars on the potential of telehealth and distance learning services. Outside of the medical world, the movement of state licensing bodies and insurance payers to permit use of telehealth services by licensed behavioral...
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Girls and Autism: Overcoming the Gender Gap to Ensure Best Outcomes
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 1 in 59 children has autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with boys being four times more likely to be diagnosed than girls (Mandy et al., 2012). Recently, through a meta-analysis of epidemiological studies, it was concluded that the true ratio may be...
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Autism Science Foundation Statement on the Use of Medical Marijuana for People with Autism
Medical marijuana is now legal in several states and the District of Columbia. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the term “medical marijuana” means either the marijuana plant itself or one its many extracts or compounds. Use of the marijuana plant is not approved by the FDA for...
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Autism and Comorbidities: Opening the Pathway to Communication Through Treatment
Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder commonly suffer from other medical conditions, or comorbidities, that can sometimes mask or even exacerbate symptoms of autism. At the top of the list are psychiatric conditions, neurological issues and even gastrointestinal problems. In fact, 70 percent...
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Language Intervention for School-Aged Children
Spoken language remains the most efficient means of communication. The ability to speak functionally with others consistently and robustly predicts positive life outcomes for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Howlin et al., 2004). Not surprisingly, most interventions have focused on...
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Treating Patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders: What Clinical and Moral Breakthroughs in Medical Education Can Accomplish
“The arc of the moral universe is long,” said a young Martin Luther King, Jr. (quoting a nineteenth-century preacher), “but it bends toward justice” (King, 1956). He knew that the struggle for civil rights would last, not for years, but for generations. It took twenty years to expand civil...
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Co-Occurring Conditions in Mild Autism Spectrum Disorder: Integrated Treatment Approaches
Co-occurring mental health conditions are the rule rather than the exception in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). A full 70% of individuals with ASD have one co-occurring condition; 40% have two or more (Siminoff et al, 2008). Living with autism is a journey, and in talking to families, I often rely...
