Controversial Therapies for Autism and Intellectual Disabilities (2^nd Ed.) Fad, Fashion, and Science in Professional Practice

One of the largest and most complex human services systems in history has evolved to address the needs of people with autism and intellectual disabilities, yet important questions remain for many professionals, administrators, and parents. What approaches to early intervention, education, treatment, therapy, and remediation really help those with autism and other intellectual disabilities improve their functioning and adaptation? Alternatively, what approaches represent wastes of time, effort, and resources?

Controversial Therapies for Autism and Intellectual Disabilities, 2nd Edition brings together leading behavioral scientists and practitioners to shed much-needed light on the major controversies surrounding these questions. Expert authors review the origins, perpetuation, and resistance to scrutiny of questionable practices, and offer a clear rationale for appraising the quality of various services.

The second edition of Controversial Therapies for Autism and Intellectual Disabilitieshas been fully revised and updated and includes entirely new chapters on psychology fads, why applied behavioral analysis is not a fad, rapid prompting, relationship therapies, the gluten-free, casein-free diet, evidence based practices, state government regulation of behavioral treatment, teaching ethics, and a parents? primer for autism treatments.

Preface (First Edition): Fad, Dubious, Controversial, Pseudo-Scientific, and Politically-Correct Treatments in Autism and Intellectual Disabilities Services by John W. Jacobson, Richard M. Foxx, and James A. Mulick

Preface: Fad, Dubious, Controversial, Pseudo-Scientific, and Politically-Correct Treatments in Autism and Developmental Disabilities Services by Richard M. Foxx and James A. Mulick

Part I: General Issues

Chapter 1: Where Do Fads Come From? by Stuart Vyse

Chapter 2: The Nature and Value of Empirically Validated Interventions by Crighton Newsom and Christine A. Hovanitz

Chapter 3: The Appeal of Unvalidated Treatments by Tristram Smith

Part II: Historical, Cultural, and Psychological Issues

Chapter 4: History of Fad, Pseudo-Scientific and Dubious Treatments in Intellectual Disabilities: From the 1800s to Today by John W. Jacobson, James A. Mulick, Richard M. Foxx and Elizabeth Kryszak

Chapter 5: The Delusion of Full Inclusion by James M. Kauffman, Devery Mock Ward and Jeanmarie Badar

Chapter 6: Explaining Gullibility of Service Providers Towards Treatment Fads by Stephen Greenspan

Chapter 7: Developmental Disabilities and the Paranormal by John W. Jacobson, Elizabeth Kryszak and James A. Mulick

Part III: Field-Specific Issues

Chapter 8: Fads in Special Education by Thomas Zane, Mary Jane Weiss, Sam Blanco, Lorraine Otte, and Josephine Southwick

Chapter 9: The Neutralization of Special Education, Revisted by Susan M. Silvestri and William L. Heward

Chapter 10: Fads and Controversial Treatments in Speech-Language Pathology by Cheryl D. Gunter and Mareile A. Koenig

Part IV: Disorder and Symptom-Specific Issues

Chapter 11: Autism: A Late Twentieth Century Fad Magnet by Bernard Metz, James A. Mulick, and Eric M. Butter

Chapter 12: Helping Parents Separate the Wheat from the Chaff: Putting Autism Treatments to the Test by Shannon Kay

Chapter 13: A Map Through the Minefield: A parent’s primer to find autism treatment that works! by Sabrina Freeman

Chapter 14: The Perpetuation of the Myth of the Nonaversive Treatment of Severe Behavior by Richard M. Foxx

Part V: Intervention Specific Issues

Chapter 15: Sensory Integrative Therapy by Tristram Smith, Daniel W. Mruzek, and Dennis Mozingo

Chapter 16: Auditory Integration Training: A Critical Review (1991-2014) by Oliver C. Mudford and Chris Cullen

Chapter 17: Facilitated Communication: The Ultimate Fad Treatment by John W. Jacobson, Richard M. Foxx, and James A. Mulick

Chapter 18: Positive Behavior Support: A Paternalistic Utopian Delusion by James A. Mulick and Eric Butter

Chapter 19: Nonaversive Treatment by Crighton Newsom and Kimberly A. Kroeger

Chapter 20: Gentle Teaching by Angela M. Arnold-Saritepe, Oliver C. Mudford and Chris Cullen

Chapter 21: Pet Me, Sniff Me, Squeeze Me: Quack Treatment for Autism by Gerald P. Koocher and Erica Gill

Chapter 22: Relationship-Based Therapies for Autism Spectrum Disorders by Thomas Zane, Mary Jane Weiss, Kari Dunlop, and Josephine Southwick

Chapter 23: Old Horses in New Stables: Rapid Prompting, Facilitated Communication, Science, Ethics, and the History of Magic by James T. Todd

Chapter 24: The Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet by Keith E. Williams and Richard M. Foxx

Chapter 25: Why ABA is not a Fad, a Pseudo Science, a Dubious or Controversial Treatment, or Politically Correct by Richard M. Foxx

Part VI: Ethical, Legal and Political Concerns

Chapter 26: Ethics, Controversial Treatments and Applied Behavior Analysis by Peter Sturmey

Chapter 27: The National Institute of Health Consensus Development Conference on the Treatment of Destructive Behaviors: A 25-Year Update of a Study in Hardball Politics by Richard M. Foxx

Chapter 28: Teaching Ethics in Behavior Analysis: Philosophy, Methods and Resources by Jon Bailey and Mary Burch

Chapter 29: Evidence-Based Practices In Treatment for Autism and Intellectual Disabilities by Thomas Zane, Mary Jane Weiss, Cheryl Davis, and Ian Melton

Chapter 30: State Government Regulation of Behavioral Treatment: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by Richard M. Foxx, Valeria LaCerra, Nina Carraghan, and Jessica A. Fedezko

Afterword: A Decade Later by J. M. Johnston

List of Contributors

Richard M. Foxx, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology at Penn State University Harrisburg and Clinical Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics in the College of Medicine at Pennsylvania State University in Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA. He was the recipient of the American Psychological Association’s Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research in 2013.

James A. Mulick,Ph.D., is Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Psychology at The Ohio State University and a pediatric psychology expert at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. He received the 2009 John W. Jacobson Award for Critical Thinking from the American Psychological Association Division on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.