Content area
Full Text
Sturmey, P., & Fitzer, A. (Eds.). (2007). Autism spectrum disorders: Applied behavioral analysis, evidence, and practice. Austin, TX: PRO-ED. 289 pgs. $38 USD softcover (ISBN 978-1-4164-0209-1)
Editors Sturmey and Fitzer (2007) inform the reader in the preface of the book that they selected chapter authors because of their active contributions and research in the area of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and applied behavior analysis (ABA). The purpose of the book is to provide readers with research-based information and practical recommendations. It did accomplish its goal of providing guidance for professionals who have had some exposure to ABA. The editors state in the preface that master's- and doctoral-level psychologists, speech pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, psychiatrists, pediatricians, behavior analysts, educational administrators, special education and general teachers, teacher assistants, and primary caregivers would find the information helpful when developing and providing services. This writer is not convinced that most teaching assistants, primary caregivers, or possibly general education teachers would find reading the book alone helpful without the guidance of an ABA-trained professional's instruction and modeling of the techniques. The book is organized into eight chapters, and each chapter ends with a summary, list of practitioner recommendations, and extensive reference lists.
The first chapter includes the characteristics of the various autism spectrum disorders and the current research on the etiology and epidemiology of ASD. The authors report that interventions such as TEACCH and the Denver Model might be beneficial for some individuals with ASD; however, they have not yet been evaluated in well-designed studies. Teaching approaches derived from ABA are the most extensively studied, with hundreds of scientific studies published...