Association for Behavior Analysis International

There has been a rising trend in pharmaceutical interventions for individuals diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities in addition to the rising need for behavioral interventions. It is not uncommon for service recipients to be receiving psychotropic medication in addition to behavioral treatment concurrently. Practitioners are commonly told to consider effects of medications during service delivery; however, this typically is not covered in the practitioners formal education as evidenced by the lack of requirement of pharmacology courses in most applied graduate programs. Without consideration to drug effects, this may compromise the integrity of data collection and interpretation. The purpose of this panel is to discuss the status of pharmaceutical interventions in Autism, overview of behavior analytic studies evaluating drug treatment, and provide insight and recommendations for practitioners and researchers to bridge the disconnect between medical and behavioral interventions. In addition, the panelists will each offer a unique perspective on this topic to facilitate discussion among each other in addition to audience participation.