Association for Behavior Analysis International

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are complex disorders for which the etiology is unknown. While we do not know and/or understand the etiology of ASD, we are developing assortments of treatments that are more or less effective and are more or less evaluated. We suggest that the current situation results from the complexity of ASD and the treatments developed for it. Therefore, we have created a systematic research approach that will allow us to gradually understand the connections between and among the factors of this complex phenomenon. The evidence suggests that Applied Behavior Analysis based treatments are the most successful. However, even these treatments have not been comprehensively evaluated in ways that allow us to connect what was done to an overall understanding of ASD. Our Dynamic Evaluation Model for the evaluation of complex behavioral interventions is designed to uncover and quantify specific relations among various symptom manifestations, complex treatment constellations, and outcomes.