Early Intervention in Autism

Many interventions for autism have been promoted within and outside mainstream health systems, often making startling claims of effect. Pressure from families, service providers and policy makers for new intervention programs is understandable, and these are reinforced in some areas by statutory imperatives. In such a context the need for rigorous evaluation is clear but has often been lacking. Fortunately there is now increasing resource devoted to sophisticated intervention testing, and substantive progress beginning. This review focuses on early intervention programs in the pre-school period that have been subjected to rigorous evaluation.