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Abstract: New, unsubstantiated therapies for individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that lack empirical support for their effectiveness seem to be introduced almost daily. These unproven therapies should be subjected to the methods of applied behavior analysis to experimentally evaluate their effectiveness. This study provides an empirical evaluation of a popular device, fidget spinners, that have been marketed as improving focus for individuals diagnosed with ASD. Four young children diagnosed with ASD participated; two receiving intervention and two peers not receiving intervention. The effects of the fidget spinner on auditory conditional discriminations were evaluated using a reversal design. The results indicated the fidget spinner was ineffective at improving auditory conditional discriminations for both participants. Following the ineffectiveness of the fidget spinners, a behavioral intervention was provided which resulted in improvements in auditory conditional discriminations for both participants.
Prevalence rates of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have increased in recent years with the most recent reports indicating 1 in every 59 will be diagnosed with ASD (Baio et al., 2018). The increase in awareness and prevalence of ASD has been paralleled with an increase in the number of interventions and/or treatments claiming effectiveness, and, in some cases, a cure (Goin-Kochel, Myers, & Mackintosh, 2007; Jacobson, Foxx, & Mulick, 2005). Unfortunately, many of these interventions are unsubstantiated, lacking empirical support for their effectiveness (Matson, Adams, Williams, & Rieke, 2013; Schreck & Miller, 2010), and would be considered non-evidence based, not empirically supported, pseudoscientific, and/ or antiscientific (Green, 1998). Despite the warnings of fad treatments (i.e., treatments that have "no substantial body of research showing that they are effective in treating any aspect of autism;" Zane, Davis, & Rosswurm, 2008, p. 46), many are still being implemented with individuals diagnosed with ASD including, but not limited to, Facilitated Communication (Schlosser et al., 2014), Rapid Prompting Method (Travers, Tincani, & Lang, 2014), Social Thinking (Leaf et al., 2016a; Leaf et al., 2018), Sensory Integration (Lang et al., 2012), and dietary changes (Mulloy et al., 2010). The increase in the fad interventions can make selecting an appropriate intervention, or interventions, a daunting task for caregivers, practitioners, and teachers (Goin-Kochel et al., 2007; Lerman et al., 2008; Matson et al., 2013). Given the terrain individuals have to...