Psychotropic Medications as Treatments for People with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Board Certified Behavior Analysts and Psychotropic Medications: Slipshod Training, Inconsistent Involvement, and Reason for Hope

“…One is that nearly all of the respondents provide services for clients with ASD who receive psychotropic medications, although the reported percentage of medicated clients differed widely across clients. These findings are unsurprising given that the overall prevalence of psychotropic drug use in this population is relatively high (e.g., Goin-Kochel et al, 2007;Logan et al, 2015;Sheehan et al, 2015;Williams et al, 2012), but differed from 19.5 to 65% in published studies (Poling et al, 2017).…”

“…First, some behavior analysts are highly critical of the use of psychotropic drugs (e.g., Flora, 2007), while others are more accepting (e.g., Thompson, 2007). Second, the research methods characteristic of ABA, including the use of small-N, within-subject designs and direct, repeated measures of target behaviors, functional assessment of target behaviors, and social validation are of clear value in clinical psychopharmacology (for reviews see Poling, Ehrhardt, Wood, & Bowerman, 2010;Poling et al, 2017;van Haaren & Weeden, 2013), although they are not generally accepted by the FDA or the medical profession. Third, the strategies that applied behavior analysts use in the everyday evaluation of their interventions (which are similar to those used in their research, albeit less rigorous) are often appropriate for the everyday evaluation of psychotropic medications (Poling & Ehrhardt, 1999;Poling et al, 2010).…”

“…Both Brodhead (2015) and Newhouse-Oisten, Peck, Conway, and Frieder (2017) recently proposed strategies to ensure that interdisciplinary teams which include behavior analysts function effectively. Unfortunately, neither these nor other authors who have argued that behavior analysts can play a valuable use in the appropriate use of psychotropic drugs, including us (e.g., Poling et al, 2017;Weeden et al, 2010a), have considered the specific skills that behavior analysts need to participate meaningfully in treatment teams, the best way to establish those skills, and the ubiquity of such skills in BCBA practitioners. These topics are highly worthy of discussion, and some of the questions in the survey we conducted are relevant to them.…”

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and the Family Inclusive Airport Design Experience

“…The growing market segment of passengers with autism, a neurodevelopment condition that affects a person’s ability to properly communicate and relate to their environment and other people [ 5 ], presents a particular challenge for airports, as passengers with ASD exhibit particular difficulties during the air travel experience and require specific kinds of support to be able to travel at ease. Air travel can be exhausting, from check-in to onboard service, for this passenger segment and their families [ 6 ]. According to [ 7 ], passengers with mobility and non-mobility disabilities requiring service assistance support at airports comprise a major passenger segment worldwide.…”

“…In 2014, the World Health Organization [ 9 ] called for the access needs of people with ASD to be properly addressed. The travel industry and public health sector, therefore, should endeavour to eliminate the major constraints encountered by passengers with autism [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ], yet research on international travellers with developmental or cognitive disabilities is limited [ 2 ]. Compared with the general population, children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) tend to have deficits in adaptive skills, which makes novel environments such as an airport very difficult to manage [ 11 , 12 ], and the airport experience for a child with ASD and their family can therefore be overwhelming [ 10 ].…”