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100 Autism Research Paper Topics

Careful selection of autism research paper topics is very important. That’s because there are many autism topics that students can research and write about. The topic that a learner chooses dictates the direction that their research and writing process will take. As such, students should select their topic ideas based on their academic goals. Ideally, what a learner opts to write about should help them accomplish their study goals.

Autism can be defined as a spectral disorder that makes a child seem to have a world of their own. Many parents misinterpret this disorder and assume that the child does not notice them. However, this is usually not the case. Parents are the first people to notice this disorder. With more children being diagnosed with this disorder, educators are asking learners to write about autism essay topics.

If you’ve been asked to write about this subject, take your time to research this disorder. You can even read the autobiographies of autistic people. If possible, meet and interact with autistic people before you start writing. This will give you an idea of what this condition is all about. Our psychology topics may also come in handy. In most cases, you will be required to focus your paper or essay on the creation of more autism awareness. This article highlights some of the topics in autism that you can consider for your paper or essay.

Basic Autism Research Paper Topics

Autism is a broad research area. Researchers have delved into this field and came up with different findings. However, you can still pick a topic for your research in this field and come up with new information. Here are some of the most interesting research topics in autism that can form the basis of your academic paper or essay.

• Why some people autistic and others are not?
• Does being autistic have advantages?
• Why is being autistic disadvantageous?
• Some people have a good memory or recall skills, explain why
• Facts that people should know about autism
• Explain the chemical brain differences between autistic and non-autistic individuals
• Discuss some of major breakthroughs in autism research
• Why do people with autism have difficulty socializing with others?
• What can normal people learn from autistic people’s brains?
• What characteristics should a person with autism have?
• How should an autistic person be trained during care provision?
• What should caregivers understand about autism to do their job right?
• Explain the behavior of autistic individuals towards family members
• Provide an average autistic individual’s overview
• How can the social interactions of autistic people be improved?
• Explain what causes autism
• What educational programs do autistic people have?
• How to diagnose autism in the early stages
• Explain the role of music in an autistic person’s life
• Is there a treatment for reducing autistic people’s disadvantages?
• What are the employment limitations and opportunities for autistic people?
• Discuss the major stories about autism that have been shared in the media
• What is yet to be discovered about autism?
• Explain how healthcare workers can help autistic individuals go through their daily life
• Describe the top 5 autistic individuals that are best known in history

These are some of the most interesting autism topics for research paper or essay. However, you should research them extensively before you start writing. That’s because each of these topics requires you to include verifiable facts in your paper or essay.

Strong Autism Dissertation Topics

With so many children being diagnosed with autism, more learners are writing dissertations on this subject. And there are many autism research topics from which a learner can choose. Here are some of the best autism thesis topics to consider.

• Is there evidence to prove that environmental triggers are responsible for rising autism cases?
• Explain the relationship between stimming self-regulator for anxiety and autism
• Why is autism prevalence in western society greater?
• How is autism related to mental health?
• How can family doctors be supported to take care of autistic people?
• Discuss autism and childhood immunization
• Discuss some of the prominent individuals in history that were most likely autistic
• How can autistic people be supported at the workplace?
• How do autistic females differ from autistic males?
• Can autistic children adapt to mainstream education?
• What are the positives and negatives of special education for autistic children?
• Should autistic children attend special schools?
• Why do people consider autism a spectrum disorder?
• What diagnostic changes have raised the concern that Asperger’s Syndrome might no longer exist
• Does lifestyle play a role in autism?

Some of these topics on autism may seem complex to research and write about. However, you can find relevant and sufficient supporting evidence from different sources. You just need the time and resources required to write about any of these topics about autism.

Autism Parent Training Topics

Raising an autistic child is not easy. Parents and caregivers should learn about autism spectrum disorder and its effects on their children. They should also learn how this disorder affects the entire family. It’s for this reason that researchers focus on research topics in autism that educate parents and caregivers about taking care of autistic children. Here are some of the best autism social learning topics.

• How to manage the parenting challenges for people with autistic children
• How to enhance the communication skills of autistic children
• How to enhance the coping skills of autistic children
• How to address the negative behaviors of autistic children
• How to increase the play skills of autistic children
• How to diagnose autism early in children
• How to increase the independence of autistic children
• How to improve self-help in autistic children
• How does autism in one child affect the other family members?
• How to solve the daily problems of autistic children

Each of these topics is meant to produce a paper or essay that can help parents of autistic children cope with the disorder. The information can also help the parents make their children lead a better life despite their condition.

Paper Topics about Autism and Education

Since it’s a complex disorder that affects brain development, autism touches on education as well. Here are some of the good research paper topics on autism and education that you can write about.

• Why is autism worth researching?
• Discuss the causes of autism
• Discuss the development realms that are affected by autism
• What resources do autistic people have access to?
• Explain how autistic children learn
• Explain how autism affects the learning process
• Explain the struggles of autistic students
• Explain parent training autism
• Discuss the major types of autism
• How does learning differ between autistic and normal students?

These topics focus on the relationship between autism and learning or education. Just like the topics in the other categories, they require extensive research to write about too.

Autism Research Proposal Topics

A lot of information about autism is being discussed by researchers across the world. This makes it hard for some learners to pick proposal topics for their autism papers. Here are some of the topics to consider if struggling to pick your proposal topic.

• What is autism therapy?
• Is autism therapy helpful?
• How should caregivers provide care to autistic persons?
• What is the best way to work for an autistic person?
• Working with an autistic person- What are the major challenges?
• How do you cope with an autistic family member?
• How should autistic people be treated in social places?
• What limitations do autistic people have in modern society?
• Is the current society considerate of autistic people?
• How does modern technology benefit autistic people?

If you pick a research topic on autism from this category, take the time to research it extensively to write a brilliant paper or essay.

Thought-Provoking Autism Debate Topics

Perhaps, you want to write a paper or essay that can form the basis of a debate about autism. In that case, consider one of these topics.

• How celebrities and pseudo-scientists have caused serious damage by claiming that autism is related to vaccinations
• How to educate society about autism
• How to change the future of autistic children with early interventions
• How school officials can help autistic children
• How to help autistic kids whose parents are uncooperative or in denial
• How autistic children can benefit from occupational therapy
• Discuss the DSM-V regarding autism
• How educational opportunities for autistic children compare to those of normal children
• How health officials can convince the public that shots don’t cause autism
• Should children that have not been vaccinated because parents believe that vaccines cause autism be taken to school?
• How to support siblings of an individual with autism
• How to transition a person with autism to community-based services from school-based services.
• How to fight for autistic people’s rights
• How to deal with the psychological struggles of autistic children
• How music affects autistic patients
• Social organizations for autistic people
• Why diagnosing autism early is important
• Can autism be prevented?
• How to interact with autistic people
• What employment options do autistic people have?
• How to manage autism in adults
• A brief history of autism
• How living with an autistic person can affect your life
• How genetics affect autism
• Can the environment cause autism?
• Can medical treatment cause autism?
• A review of autism in different countries
• A review of autism in different cultures
• What signs of autism should parents watch out for?
• How to develop a treatment plan for autism

This category has controversial topics autism researchers can explore too. Nevertheless, whether you choose parenting or autism biology topics for research paper, take the time to research extensively before you start writing. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you need thesis writing help .

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165 Autism Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Struggle with writing a research paper topics on autism? We’ve got your back covered! Below, you will find a list of 147 topics about autism as well as autism research paper examples!

🏆 Best Research Autism Topics & Essay Examples

👍 good autism essay topics, 💡 psychology research autism topics to write about, ⭐ simple & easy autism essay titles, ❓ research questions about autism.

• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Autism is a serious disorder that has the potential to disrupt the success of people living with it. This is to mean that the theory of causation regarding autism is not complete as yet.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder in a Child At the moment, M.is more verbal with his parents and siblings and reacts adequately to them, especially in repeated day-to-day situations.
• How Does Having a Child With Autism Affects Parents’ Lifestyle? The creation of a system of psychological, pedagogical and social support can reduce the risk of a complete family life dedication to a child with autism.
• Autism. Child and Family Assessment The other common disorder associated with autism is that of mutism whereby it also lies under the category of speech disorder and in many cases it is difficult to be diagnosed and at the same […]
• Autism: Characteristics, Prevalence and Interventions The symptoms of autism are noticeable in the early years of childhood. Occupational therapy is one of the non-educational interventions used to assist kids with autism.
• “Let Me Hear Your Voice: A Family’s Triumph Over Autism” by Catherine Maurice The book was published in 1994, and it was a success as parents of autistic children were waiting for someone to prove that autism was not an incurable disorder.
• Inclusion Curriculum for Children With Autism In the given paper, the issue of children autism, the developmental issues that autism triggers and the educational prospects for children with autism are going to be considered.
• Bright Not Broken: Gifted Kids, ADHD, and Autism It is possible to state that the book provides rather a high-quality review of the issues about the identification, education, and upbringing of the 2e children.
• One-To-One Programs: Supporting Autistic Children The purpose of conducting this essay will be to examine the educational intervention of one-to-one support programs during normal school times within a mainstream classroom and also to discuss the challenges faced by teachers and […]
• Impact of Autism Disorder on Adolescents This essay discusses the impact of autism disorder on adolescents in the community and a nursing intervention that can be used to assist adolescents in becoming prominent society members.
• Progression of Reading Ability in a Child Diagnosed With Autism The battery of assessments and interviews with parents on the participant’s socialization and early reading ability indicates the study applied the Psychometric and Social Contextual approaches.
• Analysis of Behavior of Preschool Age Child With Autism The child’s behavior in the video differs from that of a mentally healthy child, and these differences lie in the child’s other emotional state and degree of interest in talking to people.
• Autism and Disability Advocacy People with autism can contribute to the diversity of disability culture by expanding understanding of what disability is and how it can be accepted.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis According to DSM-5, to fit the diagnostic criteria for ASD, a child must have evident deficits in three major areas of social communication as well as 2 out of the 4 restricted or repetitive behaviors.
• Thinking in Pictures: Autism and Sensory Problems The chapter “The Squeeze Machine: Sensory Problems in Autism” in Grandin’s Thinking in Pictures presents a series of life perspectives of various individuals, including her own, regarding the sensory problems they experienced. They postulated that […]
• Therapeutic Programs for Children With Autism in K-12 Institutions In the paper, the gaps in the research of effective treatments for children with ASD are explored, after which the efficacy of a multi-system aquatic therapy and standardized equine-assisted therapy program is argued.
• Societal Issue Research Project: Autism Spectrum Disorder The first factor is the significant risk that the genetics of siblings who had ASD diagnosis will increase the chance of the disorder.
• Child-Centered Play Therapy and Autism The purpose of the discussed research was to investigate the effects of CCPT on the sample of children with autism, establishing and describing the connection between CCPT and social and emotional growth.
• Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Training Program for Caregivers The latter means that many caregivers take care of children with ASD, hence the importance of equipping them with the necessary skills for effective and smooth parenting and coping with various difficulties.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder’s Impact on Child’s Learning In regards to the public-school setting, standardized testing demands youngsters to grasp and react to spoken as well as written communication at an anticipated pace and level.
• Laboratory Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders The purpose of my study is to discover which of these methods is more accurate, with the reason being the importance of early diagnosis of ASD, which leads to better treatment outcomes.
• Autism and Related Cognitive Concepts It has been suggested that children with autism show a general deficit of cognitive skills in multilevel planning and in the regulation of behavior.
• Bullying and Autism Spectrum Disorder In fact, bullying as a social phenomenon can be characterized as a social and interaction issue; therefore, it is possible to analyze the connection between autism and acts of bullying and inappropriate behavior.
• Face Emotion Recognition in Autism Phenotype One critical aspect of social communication is the capability to apprehend the emotions and intentions of another person. In conclusion, Autism Spectrum Disorder makes the interpretation of facial expressions difficult.
• Misrepresentation of Autism in the ‘Music’ Film While the film was not centered on the topic of autism as its message, the stereotype-heavy portrayal and a lack of research make it a harmful piece of media.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Prevalence and Impact in Society It has therefore been impossible to determine the level of increase in autism cases that is as a result of improved diagnostic measures and that which can be attributed to the real increase in autism […]
• Autism Spectrum Disorder: Diagnosis, Impact, Treatment The main diagnostic element for ASD is the evidence of difficulties, either in the present or past, which are different across the age groups.
• Autism and Vaccination Refusal Management Among Somalian Parents Somalian parents in their community in Minnesota refuse from their children being vaccinated, as they believe that vaccination causes autism.
• Everyone Has the Power to Effect Positive Change Within the Autism Community This paper presents what is autism, how every one reacts to the problem, what is the difference between the rich and the poor in their response towards the problem.”Autism is one of five developmental disorders […]
• Reducing Off-Task Behaviors Using a Token Economy System in Children With Autism Token economy is a strategy of positive reinforcement that can be provided to children in the form of tokens for completing the assigned tasks.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder: Key Points The requirement to meet these needs is supported by the fact that the rate of students with ASD is high: according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, more than 83 per cent of […]
• “Theoretical Aspects of Autism” by Helen Ratajczak On the whole, it is possible to say that the standards set by Austin Hill cannot be always met, in part because the physiological aspects of this disease have not been fully investigated.
• Dr. Temple Grandin’s Argument on Visual Thinking and Autism A more in-depth analysis of visual activities can reveal the all imagery can be mentally processed and modified by children so that images are rotated and analyzed to make the brain map expand.
• Intellectual Disability: Autism In their adulthood, and because of the communication issues that most individuals with autism tend to have, they will naturally have difficulty in finding and keeping jobs.
• Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for Children With Autism On the positive side, it fastens the production of different types of reactive oxygen used in the body. It is arguable that the size of the samples used in the study was small.
• Analysis of Children Autism in “The Black Balloon” It is imperative to note that Charlie’s emotions are not regulated and as such, manifest in immature behaviors such as flapping of his hands.
• Occupational Therapy for Children With Autism The main reason for the appearance of autism is the disturbance of the development of the patients brain which results in the appearance of various symptoms.
• The Mitochondria and Autism – Results and Main Function The results are important in health because children with autism were more probable to have dysfunctions and abnormalities of the mitochondria such as over replication and deletion of mitochondrial DNA compared to those without the […]
• Autism Etiology, Symptoms, Beliefs, and Management To date, debate on the cause or etiology of autism still remains divided, with extant literature demonstrating that “although many hypotheses have been proposed, a singular or specific combination of causes has yet to be […]
• Quantitative Assessment of Neuromotor Function in Adolescents With High Functioning Autism: Critique The study authors did not give the benefits and/or risks associated with the study participation. The authors indicated that the ZNA was appropriate for collecting the data because it could measure the 11 parameters of […]
• Critical Appraisal on the Impact of Autism Spectrum Disorders on the Family: A Qualitative Study of Mothers’ Perspectives The study researchers established the significance of the study by outlining the social and financial implications of taking care of children with ASD.
• Autism: External Forces, Causes and Treatment The increasing prevalence of Autism in the United States and across the world is attracting great attention from the healthcare sector to design critical programs tailored to stem the disorder in terms of prevention, treatment, […]
• The Importance of Services for Children With Autism The plea of the majority of Americans for the reverse of healthcare budget allocation is well because it is wrong to interfere with services offered to children with autism. With childcare initiative in place, the […]
• Autism: General Information and Treatment She argues that the treatment of autism is through scientific proven medication that aids in controlling aggressive behaviors and that Trisperidone is the commonly used antipsychotic.
• The Issue of Autism: Task-Group Project The role of B.N.in the meeting can be seen as a summarizer, providing a summary of the minutes of the previous meeting.
• Concepts of Autism and Williams Syndrome The disorder manifests itself in the early years of a child’s life, with long-lasting effects that are not curable but controllable and easy to deal with on condition that, the concerned parties take the necessary […]
• Autism Programs to Enhance Students’ Outcomes In addition to social and behavioral challenges, ASD typically hinders a learner’s ability to gain and process the necessary academic information.
• Autism Program’s Impact Across Contexts In other words, a detailed overview of the issues that administrators face when designing the program and which the teachers have to deal with when addressing the needs of children with autism must be carried […]
• Autism: Teaching Plan for Taking All the Features Into Account For the first child, caregiver training was done at child’s bedroom, and for the second child it was done at living room, and for the third child with severe mental retardation it was carried out […]
• Education Considerations for Students With Autism Two articles under consideration consider the opposite views regarding the education of students with autism; on the basis of the information obtained from these articles, it can be stated that none of the perspectives is […]
• Developmental Psychology: Autism and Vaccination Vaccination of infants is widely used today as the pattern of endemic diseases can be explained in terms of interplay of social, physical and biological factors in an area that is conducive to a continuous […]
• Social Work Methods to Treat the Child Who Is Suffering From Autism This is a clear indicator that alcohol intake by the family is costing the members and it is an issue that needs to be looked into.
• Autism and Immunization: Vaccines and the Changing Epidemiology The interest and attention invoked by this paper were largely due to the fact that it appeared to provide a biological means through which MMR vaccine resulted in autism.
• The Autism-Vaccine Debate, Arguments, and Research Autism is defined by the Autism Society of America as ” a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first 3 years of life and is the result of a neurological disorder that affects […]
• Autism Spectrum Disorder and Interventions However, the negative side of it is that such an intervention is limited to those patients who are verbal and have limited vocabulary.
• Autism: Symptoms, Forms, Diagnostic Instruments Autism is basically a developmental disorder of the human brain that its first symptoms are initially manifested in infancy and it follows a steady cause without relapse.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Features in Children One of the causes for the appearance of these issues is an inborn disability that might presuppose the need for specific methods to educate a child and guarantee a chance for integration with society.
• Autism Occurrence by Measles Vaccine Status The organization of information in the text follows a logical format by introducing the background for the vaccine, incorporating the issue of ASD connection, and leading up to the primary research question.
• Parental Report of Vaccine Receipt in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder In the introduction, which is the first section, the study’s research problems and their significance to nursing are stated. The discussion section covers how the authors relate the findings to the research objective and the […]
• Teenagers With Autism Disorder Autism is seen as a spectrum disorder since its severity and symptoms vary greatly among affected individuals – from mild and occasional to persistent and interfering with all aspects of life.
• Impact of Autism Spectrum Disorders on Life However, between the ages of two and three, his lack of verbal activity and inability to “echo” simple sounds and syllables were found to be very concerning by the family.
• Autism Should Not Be Viewed as a Disability A good example is that the treatment of autism as a mental disorder makes it possible for pharmaceutical companies and clinics to invent new health systems or procedures that will meet the needs of the […]
• Autist Student’s Behavior and Remedial Plan In the process of reading, I would pay attention to the student’s concentration and ability to integrate what she was reading. She also took long in doing this and did not want to stop the […]
• Autism Treatment, Its Methods and Results It was appropriate to focus on the use of the DSE intervention and examine if addressed most of the challenges facing many ASD patients.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder: Programs Effectiveness The purpose of this PE, therefore, is to evaluate and analyze the efficiency of the programs implemented by the Day Support Services.
• Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders The main goal of this paper is to present a review of relevant literature addressing the issue of helping college students with ASD prepare for workforce readiness and job placement.
• Association Between Vaccination and Autism The study examined whether there is a link between the toxic effects of exposure to thimerosal-containing vaccines and the risk of developing ASD.
• Olfaction and Autism Spectrum Disorder Relationship These findings reveal that the sniff test can reveal both the presence and severity of ASD in young children. The link between ASD and olfaction can be used in diagnosing young children with autism.
• Abu Dhabi Autism Center The Abu Dhabi Autism Center has to operate within the laws and regulations of the Zayed Higher Organization for Humanitarian Care and Special Needs.
• Applied Behavior Analysis Treatment for Autism It is the most commonly applied autism treatment remedy in the United States and several other countries in the world and the major method that schools and therapists embrace and use.
• Inclusive Education: Child With Autism and Spina Bifida It is worth mentioning that Ted’s mother is willing to cooperate with teachers, and her participation can be of great assistance to the teacher.
• Children With Autism’ Communication in Saudi Arabia Parents of children with autism in Saudi Arabia have complained that the government has neglected the needs of autistic children by failing to finance their education and research to detect the effectiveness of the digital […]
• Autism Spectrum Disorders: Testing and Measurement It will begin with the rationale that explain why the issues are critical, followed by the reasons for unavailability of the solutions to the issues and the consequences of the issues.
• Autism Spectrum Disorders and Educational Interventions From this point, this paper aims to discuss the definition of Autism Spectrum Disorders, examine the etiology and incidence of the disorder, focus on the prevalence of autism, and analyze the effectiveness of the DTT […]
• Vaccines and Autism: Separating Facts From Fiction The advocacy groups say that thimerosal, a preservative used in vaccines, is toxic to the central nervous system and responsible for an alarming rise in rates of autism among children in the United States and […]
• Lesson for Learners With Autism: Reflection Observation The essay identifies the instructional methods used by the teacher during the exercise. The teacher also guided the learners to solve the mathematical problems using different visual objects.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Concept Besides, Temple often explores her own experiences and attempts to understand the feelings of others that are unavailable to her by visualizing herself as other creatures people and animals.
• Dubai Autism Center’ Quality Management TQM employs strategies and effective communication within the organization to incorporate the quality principles into the culture and activities of the organization to ensure that all the activities are geared towards satisfying the customers.
• Video Modeling for Individuals With Autism The video model will be developed according to the needs of autistic children, with the focus on the role of visual and auditory stimuli in the teaching process.
• The Effects of Vaccines on Autism From their study, the findings demonstrate that the presence of thimerosal is one of the causes of the disorder. It is imperative to state that they have used many studies that have indicated that there […]
• Vaccination as a Cause Autism This paper borrows on the arguments of Monica Prasad and Washington and Haydn when they argue that the belief about vaccinations as a primary cause of autism stems from emotional, psychological, and behavioral barriers, as […]
• Youth With Autism Disorder: Education and Employment This includes the communication patterns of the teenager, the extent of social relations and the unusual behavioral characteristics of the teenager in the environment.
• Autism Children Education Inclusion Policy in Private Schools: Compulsory Enrollment Policy 2011 The following are the main areas will be addressed by the policy: Prohibited Private schools will be prohibited from ignoring the needs of children suffering from autism; they will be compelled by the act to […]
• Autism: Pathogenesis and Intervention Similarly, a person with autism has to be trained on the process of communicating normally and forming a relationship with objects, events and people in their lives.
• The Real Causes of Autism However, the main problem is that this association or correlation does not imply that autism is triggered by a vaccine. This is the main argument that can be put forward.
• Applied Behavior Analysis and Autism The primary subject of this study is applied behavior analysis while the secondary subject is applied behavior analysis and its effects on autism in children.
• Autism. Sensory Integration. Tactile Desensitization The poor development that is recorded at the early stages in life is likely to affect the development of different skills by the individuals even in the adult stages The signs that are associated with […]
• Autism Effect on Children It is crucial to understand the behavior of children with autism in the school set up in order to understand how autism affects children and their social interactions. It is up to the teacher to […]
• Autism and Its Effects on Social Interaction The article “Social Impairment in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder” identifies the major challenges facing many people with autism. The authors wanted to examine the social problems and difficulties encountered by individuals with Autism Spectrum […]
• Older Dads More Likely to Have Kids With Autism The author highlights autism as one of the main outcomes of late fatherhood following the release of the results of a study involving the counting of the mutations corresponding to a father’s age at the […]
• Evidenced-Based Practice: Autism Management in Children Autism largely is connected to communication abilities of a child, a situation that later results into the child experiencing disability problems in effectively encoding and decoding communicative messages.
• Miami Dance Project for Autistic Children For me, what the Miami dance project represents is in line with what is known as the concept of confidence building wherein through the development of certain talents children with autism will begin to have […]
• Autism Spectrum Disorders and Family Impact One of the greatest fears of a parent with such a child is the fact that such a child would be taken care of until the advanced stages of their lives.
• Program Models in Autism The DTT technique has been designed in such a way as to target the individual behavior of an autistic child using the available curriculum.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder in Relation to Education Attending to students having ASD in the regular classrooms requires specialized teachers and supplementary staff in order to aid in the realization of the needs of the students having ASD.
• Critical Analysis of Published Articles: Autism It was therefore the goal of the research to find out if the negative attitude of people towards autistic children can be altered to the benefit of the parents.
• Autism in Saudi Arabia This support may come in the form of modification of the curriculum to cater for the special needs of the autistic children.
• Analysis of Autism Disorder This disorder affects the brain of the child during growth so that it does not develop in the right way thus affecting the social and communication skills of the child. This is especially to the […]
• Psychological Disorders and Their Treatment: An Overview of the Recent Progress and the Current Challenges in Treating Autism in Children In the given paper, the issue of psychological disorders is being addressed in reference to the ideas expressed in Chapter 11 “Psychological Disorders” in Carole Wade and Carol Tavris’s Invitation to Psychology.
• Early Intervention for Young Adults With Autism This is due to unavailability of information on children development stages and the importance of early detection and intervention in the case of autism.
• Different Behaviors in Children With Autism The purpose is to find out whether the co morbidity changes with the environment, and assess the influence that the environment has on the behavior of an autistic child.
• Diagnosis and Treatment for Autism Disorder Children with autism are therefore able to reason and even interpret the feelings of other people but the challenge is to communicate the response to other people.
• Autism: Qualitative Research Design Golafshani continues to argue that the use of the term “dependability” in qualitative studies is a close match to the idea of “reliability” in quantitative research.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder However, the reality is that the number of children with autism and having high intelligence is insignificant. It is apparent that, in autism, a disorder is found in the structure of the brain.
• Vaccines and Autism: A Critical Analysis of Thimerosal in Relation to Measles, Mumps, and Rubella The safety and efficacy of vaccines has been the subject of many studies in the medical field. The disorder was observed in one participant from each of the cohorts in the experiment.
• How to Recognize and Teach Students With Autism If these groups of students have to be given directions that are more than three steps, the directions have to be written down due to their inability to remember sequences.
• Autism and Visual Thought Suprisingly the quality of visual thinking according to Bogdashina is dependent on other factors like time and the state the autistic person is in.
• Autism and Educational Process Owing to these adverse effects that can stem from autism and the shear prevalence of the condition in the country’s population, a lot of research effort has been dedicated to the early diagnosis and treatment […]
• Do Vaccines Cause Autism? Thimerosal is alleged to increase the exposure of mercury in the vaccine to a substantiated high amount. In fact, the amount of antigens between children with autism and without is the same irrespective of the […]
• Language Development Problems in Children: An Indicative Characteristic of Autism This is because it is a time when it is expected that a majority of the kids should be able to talk.
• The Disease of Autism Origin The disorder is one of the new diagnoses of the autism. Other effects of the disorder are constipation and growth failures that may be a problem to the lives of the individual.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children and Its Impact on the Family Manning, Wainwright and Bennet argue that children with autism are faced with a big challenge because of the nature of the symptoms the disorder.
• Autism’s Teaching Tips for Children and Adults The present description is concerned with the role of teacher in the better management of Autism in children. Further, assessment of the interactive and developmental skills is on of the important component in the teacher […]
• How Christopher’s Autism Affect His Life In spite of the fact that the issue of autism is not clearly explained in the story, the condition of the narrator is referred to as high-functioning autism or Aspersers Syndrome on the cover of […]
• What Are Autism Spectrum Disorders?
• How Does Autism Affect the Person With It and Those Around Them?
• What Are the Barriers of Learning for a Learner With Autism/Aspergers in Performing Arts?
• Does Gluten Effect Children With Autism?
• What Are the Causes of Autism?
• How Does Autism Affect a Child’s Educational Performance?
• What Can Autism Look Like and Things You Can Do to Spot It?
• Can Children With Autism Develop a Theory of Mind?
• Which Interventions Reduce Anxiety in Autistic People?
• What Influence Has the Development of Autism Had on a Diagnosed Individual?
• How Does Autism Affect the Development of a Child?
• Are Huddles the Missing Piece of the Puzzle in Implementing Clinical Innovation for the Eating Disorder and Autism Comorbidity?
• How Does Autism Start?
• Can Mouse Imaging Studies Bring Order to Autism Connectivity Chaos?
• How Does ‘Fake News’ Affect Autism Policy?
• Are There Any Relationships Between Latent Toxoplasma Gondii Infection, Testosterone Elevation, and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder?
• How Do People With Autism Experience the World?
• Can Robotic Systems Promote Self-Disclosure in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder?
• How Did the Media Perpetuate the Autism-Vaccine Scare?
• Are There Cultural Differences in Parental Interest in Early Diagnosis and Genetic Risk Assessment for Autism Spectrum Disorder?
• How Can the Therapist Help Autism Children?
• Can Vaccinations Cause Autism?
• Does Autism Spectrum Disorder Affect People All Around the World?
• Is There a Correlation Between Epigenetics and Autism Spectrum Disorder?
• How Does Autism Affect Regular Brain Functions as Well as Socialization Skills?
• What Can Responses to Music in Autism Tell Us About the Nature of Musical Emotions?
• Why Has the Incidence Rate of Autism Increased?
• What Are the Most Effective Ways to Support/Provide Social Care For Autistic Adults?
• Which Interventions Are Effective in the Development of Communication/Language Skills in Autism?
• How Can Parents and Family Members Be Supported/Educated to Care For and Better Understand an Autistic Relative?
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207 Autism Research Topics & Paper Examples

Are you looking for research topics on autism spectrum disorder for your paper in psychology? You’re at the right place! StudyCorgi has prepared a list of topic ideas and questions you can use for your essay, thesis, debate, dissertation, and other writing assignments. Read on to discover the latest and most interesting autism topics to write about!

🏆 Best Research Topics on Autism

✍️ autism essay topics for college, 👍 good research topics about autism, 💡 simple autism essay ideas, 🎓 most interesting autism research paper topics, 🔥 hot topics in autism for a research proposal, 📌 easy autism essay topics, ❓ autism research questions, 🔎 more research questions about autism, ✅ autism topics for presentation, 🗣️ controversial autism topics for discussion.

• Literature Review on Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Autism in the “A Boy Called Po” by Asher
• Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Literature Review
• A Skill Acquisition Plan for Children with Autism
• Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
• The Autism-Gender Relationship Analysis
• Autism, Autism Spectrum Sisorder (ASD), and Theory of Mind
• Autism Causes and Treatment in Childhood Autism spectrum disorder is broadly complicated, and with time and research, it becomes a more significant brain condition.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder and Immunization Autism is a more frequently diagnosed ailment than was formerly acknowledged, and much is now being written in the mainstream media.
• Autism and Vaccination: The False Health Claim One of the most popular false health claims concerns the relationship between autism and vaccination, suggesting that the latter causes the former.
• “Assessing the Value of Token Reinforcement for Individuals With Autism” the Article by Fiske, et al. The article raises the problem of assisting the children with autism with their learning and interaction with a teacher in a classroom.
• Autism in Adults: Daily Challenges Siri Carpenter’s article “For Adults with Autism, a Lack of Support When They Need It Most” explores the way adult individuals with autism cope with the daily challenges.
• Autism Treatment: Natural vs. Medications The purpose of the paper is to prove that natural treatment must be the basis for addressing the autism issue.
• Pharma Controversy Presentation: Vaccination and Autism Parents often associate MMR vaccination with autism. No qualitative evidence for the MMR vaccination-autism link.
• Autism and the Education System Teaching children with autism in the context of their growth and development is one of the urgent issues in the modern education system in the United States.
• Causes and Treatment of Autism in Children This report focuses on determining the symptoms, causes, and treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in kids.
• Experience of Work with Children with Autism Autism affects the brain and the disease affects young babies, it triggers in a baby as young as 3 years. Autism is believed to be caused by certain birth defects.
• Development and Management of Autism The paper examines the causes, development process, and symptoms of autism and describes the ways how the disorder can be manageable.
• Biological Bases of Autism: General Analysis The purpose of this paper is to explain the biological bases of the disease while considering specific areas of the brain that are affected together with their associated symptoms.
• Autism Diagnosis Report Example Three children aged between 9 and 11 years are regarded as the ones having ASD, as stated by the licensed psychologist.
• Technical Quality of Autism Test (GARS-3) The work provides a review and analysis of articles devoted to the GARS-3 implication in the early diagnosis of autism among children.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children Autism Spectrum Disorder is a neurological disorder marked by the onset of social interaction and communication impairment at a young age.
• Autism in the School Environment and Inclusion in the Classroom ASD students may struggle to communicate effectively, making it challenging to practice speaking a new language in a classroom setting.
• Teaching Students With Autism Spectrum The bibliography analyzes educators’ current practices, approaches, tactics, and strategies for teaching students with autism.
• Interventions for Children With Autism Spectrum One of the symptoms associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder is communication difficulties. Children with ASD may be sluggish to learn to speak.
• Applied Behavior Analysis with Children with Autism This paper discusses the application of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders.
• Importance of Learning More About Autism Autism awareness addresses stereotypes and misunderstandings, increases early intervention, and makes society more accepting of individuals with autism spectrum disorder.
• Autism Among Kindergartners in Victoria, Australia This paper will postulate two teaching frameworks in an attempt to support previous legislation and policies formulated by different stakeholders.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Communication The study aims to study the communication skills of children with autism spectrum disorder by assessing their ability to converse effectively within a dialogue.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder and Dialogue Framework The research aims to assess the communication skills of children with autism spectrum disorder by assessing their ability to converse effectively within a dialogue framework.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Analysis Autism spectrum disorder is a collection of neurological conditions in which a person’s speech, motor motions, and social interaction are disrupted.
• Functional Communication Training via Telehealth for Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Randomized Controlled Trial was employed for the investigation to compare the therapy with Functional Communication Training.
• Autism: Child and Family Involvement Autism spectrum disorder affects many people aside from its primary target, emphasizing the significance of early identification, and behavioral programs.
• Autism: Diagnostics and Treatment Shedding light on the condition, its key symptoms and treatment options will help improve the quality of life in autistic people.
• Evidence-Based Strategy in Autism The report discusses the various evidence-based practices that can be adopted in diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorder among children.
• Accessibility For Students With Autism in Education in K-12 For most children and teenagers, K-12 education is the most valuable and influential part of their lives, providing them with many experiences.
• Autism Complementary Treatmen: Diet and Relaxation The following paper proposes diet and relaxation as a form of complementary therapy to the main treatment of autism disorder.
• Correlation Between Vaccines and Autism Before vaccination, large numbers of people with different backgrounds suffered from smallpox and other diseases.
• Dietary and Relaxation-Based Treatment for Autism Exploration studies have been conducted to determine the value of casein/gluten free diets as an intercession to improve cognitive and social functioning of autism patients.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder: Behavior Analysis The paper assesses the status of Autism Spectrum Disorder in children, treatment approaches, and technological innovations for aiding patients in conquering the symptoms of autism.
• Complementary Alternative Therapy for Autism The report suggests diet and relaxation as the form of complementary therapy to the central treatment of autism disorder.
• Social Skills for Preschoolers With Autism Autism Spectrum Disorder is a family of mental disorders that cause deficits in social awareness, communication skills, and stereotyped behaviors.
• The Effectiveness of Peer-Mediated Intervention for Young Children with Autism Peer-mediated intervention is a prominent technique for developing social skills and fostering involvement in children suffering from autism.
• Sources Credibility: The Case of Autism Attention to sources’ reliability is vital for any realm, including the healthcare system, especially – the evidence-based models.
• The Link Between Epidurals and Autism Spectrum Disorder This study captures the uproar that followed after a recent study attributed autism spectrum disorder to labor epidural analgesia.
• “Autism: Insight From Inside” Movie Reflection The movie “Autism: Insight from Inside” by Robert Parish reflects the issue of ASD’s effect on people’s lives.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder: Antecedent Manipulation Project L. is a 10-years-old male student, who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. The student is to be observed, and his parents and educators are to be interviewed.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children and Adolescents Below 18 Years The problem that has been chosen for conducting nursing evidence-based practice is Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in children and adolescents below 18 years.
• Teaching Communication Skills for Elementary School Students With Autism Documentation by research has shown that non-handicapped youths can be of great assistance in teaching social skills for students with autism.
• Inclusive Education for Children with Autism The study seeks to establish if some specialized programs can be employed to cater to children who are frequently diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.
• Inclusion of Students With Autism in General Education Classrooms The article’s main purpose is to sensitize the need for new strategies that would harness the inclusion of students with ASD into general classrooms.
• Behavior Intervention in Autism Spectrum Disorders The purpose of the article is to expound on the interfering behaviors in persons with autism spectrum disorders, formulate an approach for preventing them.
• Autism and Other Neurological Disorders Autism and other neurological disorders are defined by characteristics of behavior and are commonly considered to be biological in origin and not caused by improper parenting.
• Autism and Associated Healthcare Issues This paper attempts to understand Autism as a health care issue by studying deeply its causes, characteristics, conditions, treatment options, and who can live with it.
• Contributing Factors of Anxiety in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental condition that affects the way a person communicates and socializes.
• Autism as Developmental Medical Condition The paper tries to discuss the meaning of autism, the causes and the possible treatments that have been found to curb the severe symptoms experienced by the victims.
• Autism and Alzheimer’s Comparison This work is aimed at identifying differences and similarities in the mechanism of the formation of Alzheimer’s disease and autism and consideration of their progression.
• Autism in Toddler: Effects of Dietary Intervention Rigorous behavioral programs for developing positive behaviors, correcting certain sensory problems, will be the best alternative to control problems caused by autism.
• Autism Universal Screening: Response to Media Article The paper provides discussion of the article “Why There’s Disagreement over Screening Every Child for Autism?” published in The New York Times.
• Literature Review: How Can Token Economy Diminish Off-Task Behavior in Students with Autism? The students’ academic success largely depends on their behavior, which is determined not only by the environment but also by psychological states.
• Autism, Myths and Realities Autism belongs to developmental disabilities that are frequently characterized by brain-functioning complications.
• Autist Students Identification: Distinctive Features of Autism In identifying autism, there is the triad of autism which consists of autistic aloneness; speech and language disorder, and obsessive desire for sameness.
• Genetics and Autism Development Autism is associated with a person’s genetic makeup. This paper gives a detailed analysis of this condition and the role of genetics in its development.
• Vaccines and Autism: Does the Controversy Persist? Scientists managed to find quite a few vaccines against various diseases. The connection between vaccines and autism was proposed recently.
• Inclusive Education for Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder Autism spectrum disorder has become widely spread in the US today, resulting in developing the debates on the appropriateness of inclusive education for students with ASD.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder in Twins: Genetics Study Autism spectrum disorder is a behavioral condition caused by genetic and environmental factors. Twin studies have been used to explain the hereditary nature of this condition.
• Supporting Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders Depending on the situation, the representatives of the general public interact with autists when being at home, in the educational establishment, workplace, or other locations.
• Diagnosing Adults with Autism There is no single theory which any researcher in the study of autism has found to be convincing in that it thoroughly explains the origin and behavioral attributes of autism.
• Early Social Interaction: Children with Autism This paper analyzes an article addressing how the involvement of parents in the ESI programs affects the outcome of improved social and communication skills among children with autism disorders.
• Pharma Controversy: Vaccines and Autism At the end of the 20th century, Andrew Wakefield conducted his research, revealing the connection between childhood vaccines and autism.
• Autism Ethics: Accept or Cure? The paper considers the debate on whether autistic people should be accepted by the community as a diversity of the society or a cure should be found out and developed.
• Social Science Perspectives on the Autism Spectrum This report will discuss autism, its characteristics, causes, diagnosis, and management. Autism refers to developmental disorder that impedes a person’s ability to communicate and relate to people.
• The Effects of Risperidone on Children with Autism The goal of this paper is to determine if using risperidone can affect cognitive performance in pre-adolescents and adolescents with autism.
• Autism Spectrum Disorder: Symptoms & Diagnosis Challenges Autism spectrum disorders present symptoms that may be tricky for the parents to correctly diagnose the condition. The symptoms are sometimes mistaken for other disorders.
• Autism Spectrum Disorders: Control and Prevention This paper aims at determining whether television watching by children below the age of two years can lead to the development of autism.
• Teaching Communication Skills for Students with Autism Ehrough games and other forms of interaction with his/her peers, a child with autism disorders is able to develop in his/her areas of deficiency.
• Survey: 24% Believe Vaccines Cause Autism Despite Evidence A recent survey on people’s attitude toward Autism reveals that a significant percentage of parents still believe that the disease is caused by vaccines taken during childhood.
• Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders: Early Detection and Criteria In case of autism spectrum disorders the presence of other childhood disorders in a patient often complicates the traditional diagnostic procedure.
• Cell Phones May Cause Autism The main idea of the article is the harmful effect of the wireless radiation which ray cell phones in particular.
• Education for Students with Autism in Saudi Arabia Students with autism in Saudi Arabia are secluded from the mainstream learning institutions because teachers lack the knowledge and awareness related to the condition.
• Effects of Music Therapy for Adolescents with Autism Music Therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional.
• Autism and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
• How Autism Affects Regular Brain Functions as Well as Socialization Skills
• Autism and Asperger Syndrome: Similarities and Differences
• How Autism Affects the Person With It and Those Around Them
• Autism Spectrum Disorder and Its Comorbidities
• Music Therapy and Drug Therapy for Children With Autism
• Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attitudes About Inclusion Teaching
• Psychological and Social Factors in Informed Consent for Patients With Autism
• Autism and Environmental Determinants of Behavior
• Autism Spectrum Disorder and Narcolepsy: A Possible Connection That Deserves to Be Investigated
• Augmentative and Alternative Communication: For Students With Autism
• Dietary Patterns Impact Temporal Dynamics of Fecal Microbiota Composition in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Autism: Characteristics, Diagnosis, and Understanding
• Diagnose Autism Simply With ‘iPad’ Games
• Atypical Resource Allocation May Contribute to Many Aspects of Autism
• Early Behavioral Treatments for Children With Autism
• Children With Autism May Be Especially Susceptible to Bullying
• Autism and the Physiological Effects on the Brain
• Common Chromosomal Abnormalities Associated With Autism
• Parent and School Autism Wars: A Civil Rights Struggle
• Genetics Studies Indicate That Neural Induction and Early Neuronal Maturation Are Disturbed in Autism
• Aberrant Cerebellar Cerebral Functional Connectivity in Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Dynamical Methods for Evaluating the Time-Dependent Unfolding of Social Coordination in Children With Autism
• Causal Relationship Between Autism & Vaccine
• China Multi-Center Preschool Autism Project: Design and Methodologies to Identify Clinical Symptom Features and Biomarkers of Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Effective Education Strategies
• How People With Autism Experience the World
• Chromatin Regulators, Phenotypic Robustness, and Autism Risk
• Autism: How Developmental Psychology Can Inform Practice
• Music Therapy Use for Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Individuals With Autism and the Difficulties to Understand Different Emotions
• Asperger’s Syndrome: “The Higher Functioning Form of Autism
• Self Management, Autism, and Skills of Social Interaction Questions
• Are There Cultural Differences in Parental Interest in Early Diagnosis and Genetic Risk Assessment for Autism Spectrum Disorder?
• Improving Interactive Play for Students With Autism
• Evidence for Brainstem Contributions to Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Early Childhood Education for Children With Autism: How Teacher and Classroom Characteristics Influence Student Learning
• Communication Barriers That Exist With Autism
• Abnormal Functional Connectivity During Visuospatial Processing Is Associated With the Disrupted Organization of White Matter in Autism
• Genetically Modified Foods Cause Autism
• Elevated Plasma Reelin Levels in Children With Autism
• Researchers Are Still Unsure of the Origin and Causes of Autism
• Genetic Causes and Modifiers of Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Modern Computer Technologies for Autism
• Dismantling the Presumptions About Autism in the Reason I Jump by Naoki Higashida
• How Autism Spectrum Disorder Affects Students Reading
• Acoustic Hyper-Reactivity and Negatively Skewed Locomotor Activity in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Living With an Autism Spectrum Disorder in Hanoi, Vietnam
• How the Media Perpetuated the Autism-Vaccine Scare
• Living With the Form of Autism Called Asperger’s Syndrome
• Autism and Its Treatment: Applied Behavior Analysis and the Developmental, Individual-Difference, Relationship-Based Model
• Gluten and Casein Diet for Children With Autism
• Diagnosis, Symptoms, Theories, and Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children in the United States
• Affective and Cognitive Empathy in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Fluoxetine but Not Risperidone Increases Sociability in the BTBR Mouse Model of Autism
• Cognitive-Behavioral Approach for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Autism Spectrum Disorder and Interpersonal
• Lost for Emotion Words: A Study on Autism Spectrum
• Autism Prevalence, Research, and the Historical Viewpoint
• Families and Therapeutic Goals Regarding Autism
• Increased Awareness Benefits Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Play-Based Therapy for Children With Autism
• Arousal and Attention Re-Orienting in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Evidence From Auditory Event-Related Potentials
• Autism Spectrum Disorder and Its Perioperative Management
• Financial Issues Associated With Having a Child With Autism
• Autism Explain the Importance of a Person-Centered Approach
• Genetics and the Possible Causation of Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Precentral Gyrus Functional Connectivity Signatures of Autism
• Autism Among Preschool Children and the Interventions to Help Them
• Genetic Syndromes, Maternal Diseases and Antenatal Factors Associated With Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Does Autism Really Affect People’s Daily Lives?
• Which Areas of the Brain Are Impacted in Autism and or ADHD?
• Does Autism Spectrum Disorder Affect the Brain Development of a Person?
• How Is the Brain Affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder?
• What Is the Mental Age of Someone With Autism?
• Can Brain Scans Identify Autism?
• How Does Autism Affect a Child Intellectual Development?
• When Does the Autistic Brain Stop Developing?
• How Is an Autistic Brain Different From a Normal Brain?
• Can a Child With Autism Go to Normal School?
• What Are the Negative Effects of Autism?
• How Does Autism Affect the Brain and Nervous System?
• Is High Functioning Autism Considered a Disability?
• What Are the Main Difficulties of Students With Autism?
• How Does an Autistic Child Learn Best?
• What Should You Avoid if Your Child Has Autism?
• How Does Autism Affect Regular Brain Functions and Socialization Skills?
• What Is the Hardest Part of Life for a Child With Autism?
• Can Autism Go Away Without Treatment?
• What Does a Psychologist Do for Autism?
• Which Is the Best Therapy for Autism Adults?
• How Do Doctors Test for Autism?
• Does Autism Come From the Mother or Father?
• Can a Child With Autism Live a Normal Life?
• What Jobs Are Good for High-Functioning Autism?
• How does genetics contribute to autism development?
• What are the gender differences in autism prevalence and symptoms?
• What is the role of environmental factors in autism development?
• What social and emotional challenges do people with autism face?
• How can assistive technology enhance communication for people with autism?
• How do cultural beliefs affect autistic children’s parents’ experiences?
• What factors contribute to the burnout of caregivers of people with autism?
• How does nutrition affect autism symptoms?
• What are the long-term psychological effects of growing up with an autistic sibling?
• How does social media foster social connections for people with autism?
• Understanding autism: a condition overview and diagnostic criteria.
• Brain structure and function in autism.
• Strategies for enhancing verbal and non-verbal communication skills in people with autism.
• ABA therapy for autism: principles, applications, and controversies.
• Assistive technologies in autism: applications and latest developments.
• Autism-friendly classroom practices.
• Strategies for reducing sensory overload in people with autism.
• Ways to support autistic adolescents’ transition to adulthood.
• Creating opportunities for autistic people’s participation in sports.
• Sleep problems in autism: causes, effects, and interventions.
• Is there a link between vaccination and autism?
• ABA therapy in autism treatment: is it effective or harmful?
• Inclusive vs. special education for autistic children.
• Alternative and complementary treatments for autism: are they safe?
• Should autism research receive more funding?
• Medications in autism: are they overprescribed or necessary?
• Chelation therapy for autism treatment: is it worth the risk?
• Do parents of autistic children receive enough support?
• Are individuals with autism capable of providing informed consent in healthcare?
• Should teachers be allowed to restrain and seclude misbehaving students with autism?

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StudyCorgi. (2021, September 9). 207 Autism Research Topics & Paper Examples. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/autism-essay-topics/

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StudyCorgi . "207 Autism Research Topics & Paper Examples." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/autism-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "207 Autism Research Topics & Paper Examples." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/autism-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Autism were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on June 20, 2024 .

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144 comprehensive autism research paper topics that will help you.

July 28, 2021

Do you need autism research paper topics that will impress your educator to award you high grades? If yes, this article lists the best 140-plus ideas to consider for your papers and essays.

Simple  Autism Topics for Research Paper 

Perhaps, you want to write a paper about an easy topic. In that case, select the idea to work with from this category. Any of these topics can be a brilliant idea for an autism paper. Nevertheless, take your time to investigate it extensively, gather, and analyze data to develop a winning piece.

• Investigating the autism spectrum disorder’s prevalence
• Autism Diagnostic interview
• What are the primary causes of autism?
• Reasons for the increasing autism cases in children
• Effective learning and teaching methods for autistic children
• Mainstream education and autism
• Are there advantages of being autistic?
• What are the disadvantages of being autistic?
• Why are some individuals autistic while others are not
• Explain why some individuals have a good recall or memory skills
• What should people know about autism?
• Who are the top five most known autistic individuals in human history?
• How healthcare workers assist autistic persons in their daily lives
• What are humans yet to discover about autism?
• Discuss autism stories that people have shared on social media
• Describe the employment opportunities and limitations for autistic individuals
• Describe a treatment that can reduce autistic individuals’ disadvantages
• What is the primary cause of autism?
• What role does music play in the life of an autistic person?
• Explain autism diagnosis during the early stages
• Describe the educational programs for autistic persons
• What’s the average overview of an autistic person?
• Explain ways of improving autistic people’s interactions
• Explain an autistic individual’s behavior towards his family members?
• How the chemical brain of an autistic person differs from that of a non-autistic individual
• What are the most prominent research breakthroughs in autism?
• Why autistic persons struggle to socialize with others
• What normal individuals should learn from the brains of autistic persons
• Describe the characteristics of autistic persons
• Tips for training autistic persons when providing care
• Things caregivers should know about autism to do an excellent job
• How family members should behave towards autistic individuals

Autism Biology Topics Research Paper  Ideas

Students can also write autism biology papers and score top grades. If interested in autism biology, here is a list of topics to consider for your research paper. Any of these topics can be the basis of a debate because people have varying views towards them. You need sufficient and reliable information to support your argument.

• Is there sufficient evidence proving that environmental triggers are responsible for the rising autism cases?
• Why is western society reporting higher autism prevalence?
• Do literature and art help in raising awareness about autism?
• Reviewing films whose basis is an autism spectrum disorder
• How the media portrays autism and its effects
• Prominent public figures that lived with autism for years
• The impact of maternal age on autism
• Asperger’s syndrome and autism- An explorative study
• Analyzing the genome’s dark regions and their effect on autism mutation
• Gene expression control and its impact on autism mutation
• The connection between genetic variants and autism
• Obesity and autism- Is there a correlation?
• How a subtle genetic modification can affect an autistic person
• Autism and fragile x syndrome
• How brain homes affect autism
• Autism and vasopressin- What’s the link?
• Brain signature similarities with autism
• Investigating the unusual sensory response in an autistic person
• The effects of the cerebellum on an autistic person’s social behavior
• Anybody that loves biology will be interested in reading a paper on any of these ideas. However, make sure that your essay is on-point.
• Thought-Provoking Autism Controversial Issues to Write About
• Perhaps, you want to research and write about a thought-provoking topic about autism. In that case, consider one of these issues.
• Is autism a disorder or a difference?
• Timeline and history of autism
• Why are autism rates increasing dramatically?
• Things that scientists have disproven about autism causes
• Questionable and risky autism treatments
• The best autism treatments
• Should autistic children have a unique educational setting?
• Which are the best educational options for autistic children?
• Autistic children should have a unique home
• Autism and vaccinations- Is there any relations?
• Ways to raise autism awareness in society
• Changing the autistic children’s future through early interventions
• How educators can help children with autism
• Ways to help autistic children with uncooperative parents
• Can occupational therapy help autistic children?
• DSM-V and autism
• A comparison of autistic children’s and normal kids’ educational opportunities
• Ways health officials can convince their clients that vaccines don’t cause autism
• Should schools vaccinate children that haven’t received their shots because parents believe they cause autism?

Research Paper Topics Dealing with Autism  and Education

Experts recommend teaching people and caregivers about autistic persons. Through training, educators, parents, and other people can know how to treat autistic persons. Here are good research paper topics on autism and education. These topics relate expert advice with parenting and the daily life of autistic individuals. But like the other ideas, they need thorough research to come up with impressive papers.

• Ways to solve autistic children’s daily problems
• Why is autism research necessary?
• Differences in education among autistic kids and normal children
• Different autism types
• Understanding the struggles of students suffering from autism
• What are the possible autism causes?
• Managing parenting challenges when you have an autistic child
• Ways to improve autistic children’s communication skills
• How to enhance autistic kids’ coping skills
• Addressing negative behaviors among autistic children
• Increasing autistic children’s play skills
• Ways to diagnose autism early in children
• Ways to increase autistic children’s independence
• Effects of autism in a single child on family members
• Improving self-help among autistic children
• How autism affects different developmental realms
• Learning in autistic kids
• Resources available for autistic people
• Effects of autism on the learning process
• Why do parents need training about autism?

Autism Research Analysis Paper Topics 

Perhaps, you want to autism research topics you can analyze extensively in your paper or essay. If so, consider these ideas for your project. You can analyze any of these research topics on autism in your paper with proper references to impress the educator and earn the top grade in your class.

• Qualities of an effective autism treatment plan
• Autism signs that every parent should know
• Reviewing autism in various regions
• Analyzing the probability of medical treatment causing autism
• Analysis of the effects of genetics on autism
• Investigating the impact of an autistic person on a standard individual
• Analysis of autism history
• Ways adult patients can manage autism
• Analyzing the employment opportunities for autistic people
• Exploring parental education benefits in managing autism in children
• Analyzing the variations in social implications depending on autistic spectrum disorder and gender
• Analysis of the support autistic people need at the workplace
• Examining the socio-cultural effects of autism on understanding and behavior
• Do autistic children need special schools?- A detailed analysis
• Investigating the contextual drives affecting autism understanding in society
• Analyzing the peer group role in autism
• Investigating the increasing autism prevalence in western society
• Post-traumatic stress disorder- Analyzing its impact on parents with autistic kids
• Exploring the cross-cultural experiences of autistic persons
• Analyzing the role technology can play in improving autistic people’s social skills

Autism Research Questions 

One of the best ways to develop good research topics is by asking questions about the subject you find interesting. For instance, you can brainstorm autism thesis topics by asking questions about this illness. Here are some of the queries you can ask about autism, which can form the basis of your paper.

• Which is the most accepted theory about autism spectrum disorder’s pathophysiology?
• How can caregivers improve service delivery when dealing with autistic persons?
• How can ordinary people understand sensory processing among autistic persons?
• How can companies encourage ordinary people to support autistic employees?
• How can employers implement person-centered intervention to support autistic employees?
• How can companies maximize the performance and potential of autistic people at the workplace?
• How can hospitals improve autism diagnostic procedures?
• How can hospitals ensure the appropriate diagnosis of autistic adults?
• How can family members and parents provide quality care for autistic kids?
• How can ordinary people support families and parents with autistic kids?
• What support is ideal for autistic children?
• Which environments are suitable for helping autistic persons achieve quality education and life skills?
• How can society help autistic persons get the most from life?
• Which interventions can enhance mental health in autistic persons?
• How can caregiver reduce mental health issues among autistic persons?
• How can caregivers adapt mental health interventions for autistic individuals?
• Which interventions work in developing language skills in autistic persons?
• How can society support social care for autistic adults?
• Which intervention work in reducing anxiety among autistic people?
• Is autism treatable?
• Who suffers more, an autistic child or their family?
• What facts do most people not know about autism?
• Which brain part does autism damage?
• Does autism escalate with age?
• Is autism the same as brain damage?
• How can you tell that your kid is not autistic?
• Can a person inherit autism?
• Does an autistic person have a higher risk of having an autistic child?
• Is autism a disability?
• How does level I differ from level II autism?
• Which questions does the doctor ask during an autism assessment?

Students have many autism spectrum disorder research topics and questions to consider as titles for their papers. However, learners should pick exciting topics to develop outstanding pieces. If you are unable to select a topic and write an essay, seek professional writing help online. Expert writers can help you with topic selection or even write a high-quality, custom paper for you.

Take a break from writing.

Top academic experts are here for you.

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Autism spectrum disorders articles from across Nature Portfolio

Autism spectrum disorders are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders that are characterized by impaired social interaction and communication skills, and are often accompanied by other behavioural symptoms such as repetitive or stereotyped behaviour and abnormal sensory processing. Individual symptoms and cognitive functioning vary across the autism spectrum disorders.

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Therapeutic efficacy of the BKCa channel opener chlorzoxazone in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome

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• Bastian Brauer
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Integrative genetic analysis: cornerstone of precision psychiatry

• Jacob Vorstman
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Executive function deficits in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and/or autism spectrum disorder show executive function deficits compared to neurotypical peers. In this Review, Kofler et al. question the evidence to examine whether these deficits are shared across both conditions and provide recommendations for future work.

• Michael J. Kofler
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Reorienting social communication research via double empathy

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Autistic people three times more likely to develop Parkinson’s-like symptoms

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Targeting RNA opens therapeutic avenues for Timothy syndrome

A therapeutic strategy that alters gene expression in a rare and severe neurodevelopmental condition has been tested in stem-cell-based models of the disease, and has been shown to correct genetic and cellular defects.

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Autism spectrum disorder research: knowledge mapping of progress and focus between 2011 and 2022

Miaomiao jiang.

1 National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, Beijing, China

Xianjing Li

Liyang zhao.

2 Translational Medicine Center of Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China

3 Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation (IBRR), South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

Lifang Wang

Associated data.

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/ Supplementary material , further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding authors.

In recent years, a large number of studies have focused on autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study used bibliometric analysis to describe the state of ASD research over the past decade and identify its trends and research fronts.

Studies on ASD published from 2011 to 2022 were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). Bibliometrix, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer were used for bibliometric analysis.

A total of 57,108 studies were included in the systematic search, and articles were published in more than 6,000 journals. The number of publications increased by 181.7% (2,623 in 2011 and 7,390 in 2021). The articles in the field of genetics are widely cited in immunology, clinical research, and psychological research. Keywords co-occurrence analysis revealed that “causative mechanisms,” “clinical features,” and “intervention features” were the three main clusters of ASD research. Over the past decade, genetic variants associated with ASD have gained increasing attention, and immune dysbiosis and gut microbiota are the new development frontiers after 2015.

This study uses a bibliometric approach to visualize and quantitatively describe autism research over the last decade. Neuroscience, genetics, brain imaging studies, and gut microbiome studies improve our understanding of autism. In addition, the microbe-gut-brain axis may be an exciting research direction for ASD in the future. Therefore, through visual analysis of autism literature, this paper shows the development process, research hotspots, and cutting-edge trends in this field to provide theoretical reference for the development of autism in the future.

Introduction

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of early-onset, lifelong, heterogeneous neurodevelopmental conditions with complex mechanisms of emergence ( 1 ). The prevalence of ASD has increased from 1 in 69 by 2012 to 1 in 44 by 2018, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2012–2018 ( 2 , 3 ). Recent research estimates the male-to-female ratio is closer to 2:1 or 3:1, indicating a higher diagnostic prevalence of autism in males compared to females ( 4 – 6 ). Some studies have shown a high heritability of 80–93% in ASD and reported hundreds of risk gene loci ( 7 ).

Specific autistic characteristics usually appear before the age of 3 years, and some children on the spectrum may have limited nonverbal and verbal communication by the age of 18–24 months ( 8 , 9 ). The diagnosis of ASD is based on the core features of social communication impairment and unusual and repetitive sensory-motor behavior ( 10 ). Some autistic individuals can be definitively diagnosed with autism as early as 2–3 years of age and the mean age of diagnosis for autistic children is still 4–5 years ( 1 , 11 ). It is important to stress that more adults are getting assessed for possible autism ( 5 ). As autism is increasingly diagnosed, multidisciplinary involvement can help have a positive impact on the well-being and quality of life for both children and adults on the spectrum ( 12 ). Several mental diseases also affect autistic individuals, increasing the diagnosis complexity ( 13 ).

Over the past decade, researchers have struggled to explain the neurological etiology, and great progress has been made in the genetics, epigenetics, neuropathology, and neuroimaging of ASD ( 9 ). However, there is a lack of systematic review of field research and discussion of future research hotspots. Bibliometrics ( 14 ) belongs to interdisciplinary research, which has been widely used in science by analyzing highly cited papers, field keyword clustering, and the internal cooperation links of countries, thus providing a comprehensive interpretation of the development process of autism research field ( 15 ).

In some of the previous bibliometrics studies on ASD, a single software was used to focus on a specific field or research aspect of the autism ( 16 – 18 ), and the trend in the past decade has not yet been displayed. The present study comprehensively combines Bibliometrix package, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer to (1) dynamically assess quantitative indicators of ASD research publications and use different index indicators to measure the quality of research; (2) further identify the most contributing countries, institutions, journals, and authors; (3) analyze the citation network architecture; (4) determine the top 100 most cited papers; (5) conduct keyword analysis. Subsequently, bibliometrics was used to understand the current hotspots and trends in the field of ASD research for further in-depth investigation.

Materials and methods

Data collection and search strategies.

We comprehensively searched the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database from 2011 to 2022. WoSCC is a daily updated database covering an abstract index of multidisciplinary literature that exports complete citation data, maintained by Thomson Reuters (New York, NY, USA) ( 19 ). The articles’ data were independently searched by two researchers on May 29, 2022, to avoid bias caused by database updates. The scientometric retrieval process is illustrated in Figure 1 . A total of 68,769 original articles in English language were retrieved, excluding 11,661 irrelevant articles, such as meeting abstracts, editorial materials, corrections, and letters. A total of 57,108 documents were exported, and the retrieved documents would be exported in the form of all records and references.

Flowchart of the screening process.

Grey prediction model

Grey models (GM) are used to construct differential prediction models with limited and incomplete data ( 20 ). The GM (1,1) model, with high accuracy and convenient calculations, is extensively utilized in the energy and medical industries ( 21 ). We used the standard GM (1,1) model to forecast the annual publication volume over the next 5 years. The operation of GM (1,1) model was done by using Python software.

Bibliometric analysis and visualization

The records of the retrieved publications were exported to Bibliometrix, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer for further bibliometric analysis.

Bibliometrix package (running on R4.0.3) was utilized to capture and extract the bibliographic information on selected publications, including topic, author, keywords, and country distribution ( 22 ). The productivity of authors/journals in the field was measured by the number of publications (Np) and assessing metrics, such as the number of citations, publication h-index value, and m-index value. The h-index is used to quantify the scientific output and measure the citation impact, and two people with similar h-index may have a similar impact in the scientific field, even if the total number of papers or total citations are different ( 23 ). The m-index can be used to compare the influence of scholars with different academic career years. The number of citations of a document is a measure of its scientific impact to a certain extent ( 24 ). Bibliometrix package was also used to screen the top 100 articles and explore research trends and hotspots.

VOSviewer is a free computer program to visualize bibliometric maps ( 25 ). The keyword co-occurrence network was constructed using VOSviewer. CiteSpace is based on the Java environment and uses methods, such as co-occurrence analysis and cluster analysis, for the visualization of scientific literature research data in specific disciplines. The visual knowledge maps were constructed using the procedural steps of CiteSpace ( 26 ), including time slicing, threshold, pruning, merging, and mapping; then, the contribution of countries and institutions of ASD over the past decade was assessed based on centrality scores. The co-citation network and dual-map of references were constructed by CiteSpace. A dual-map ( 27 ) overlay is a bipartite overlay analysis method by CiteSspace, which uses the distribution map cited journals in the WoS database as the base map, and the map generated by the cited literature data as the overlay map.

Annual publications

A total of 57,108 articles were included in this study, consisting of 46,574 articles, 2,643 conference papers, and 7,891 reviews. From 2011 to 2022, the number of publications maintained a steady growth rate ( Figure 2A ), and the grey prediction model predicted the trend of increasing publication volume in the next 5 years ( Figure 2B ). The main information for all publications is shown in Supplementary Table S1 .

Global trends in publications of ASD research. (A) Single-year publication output over the past decade. (B) Model forecast curves for publication growth trends.

Distribution of countries and institutions

Autism-related research has been conducted by researchers from a variety of countries and institutions, and articles in this field have been cited 1,231,588 times ( Tables 1 , ​ ,2). 2 ). CiteSpace visualizes collaborative networks between institutions and countries ( Figures 3A , ​ ,B). B ). As shown in the international collaborations network of autism research ( Figure 3C ), the USA and UK are the leading countries working closely with other countries.

Publications in top 10 most productive countries.

Publications in top 10 most productive Institutions.

The distribution of countries and institutions. Map of countries (A) and institutions (B) contributed to publications related to ASD research. (C) Network diagram showing international collaborations involved in ASD research. The nodes represent the countries and institutions; the color depth and size of the circle are positively correlated to the number of posts. The thickness of the curved connecting lines represents the strength of collaboration in the countries and institutions.

Analysis of journals

The h-index combines productivity and impact; typically, a high h-index means a high recognition. As presented in Table 3 , the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, PLOS One, and Molecular Psychiatry were among the top three of the 20 journals with the highest h-index. The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders has the highest number of articles (3478) and cited number of publications (90308). Among the top 20, four journals with impact factors >10 include Molecular Psychiatry (IF: 13.437), Biological Psychiatry (IF: 12.810), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (IF: 12.779), Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (IF: 13.113), which have been cited more than 10,000 times. In addition, 75% of journals belong to Q1 ( Table 3 ). The cited journals provided the knowledge base of the citing journals. The yellow paths illustrate that studies published in “molecular, biology, immunology” journals tended to cite journals primarily in the domains of “molecular, biology, genetics,” and “psychology, education, social.” The paths colored with grass-green paths illustrate that studies published in “medicine, medical, clinical” journals tended to cite journals primarily in the domains of “molecular, biology, and genetics.” The pale blue paths showcase that research published in “psychology, education, health” journals preferred to quote journals mostly in the domains of “molecular, biology, genetics,” “health, nursing, medicine,” and “psychology, education, social ( Figure 4 ).”

Top 20 journals ranked by h_index.

TC: total citation; IF: impact factor.

A dual-map overlay of journals that published work related to ASD. A presentation of citation paths at a disciplinary level on a dual-map overlay. The width of the paths is proportional to the z-score-scale citation frequency. The labels on the map represent the research subjects covered by the journals, and the wavy curve connects the citing articles on the left side of the map and the cited articles on the right side of the map.

Analysis of authors

The top 10 most effective authors who have contributed to autism research are listed in Table 4 . The g-index and m-index are derivatives of the h-index, and if scientists publish at least 10 articles, of which 7 papers have been cited cumulatively 51 (>49), the g-index is 7; the m-index is related to the academic age of the scientists. The large g-index, h-index, and m-index indicate a great influence on the scholar’s academic influence and high academic achievement. Professor Catherine Lord from the USA is ranked first and has made outstanding contributions to autism research over the past 10 years. In terms of the number of publications, Simon Baron-Cohen was the most productive author ( n  = 278), followed by Tony Charman ( n  = 212) and Christopher Gillberg ( n  = 206). In terms of citations in this field, Daniel H. Geschwind was ranked first (18,127 citations), followed by Catherine Lord (14,830 citations) and Joseph D. Buxbaum (14,528 citations).

Top 10 most effective authors contributing to autism research.

TC: total citation; NP: number of papers.

Analysis of reference

The co-citation analysis network of 1,056,125 references ( Figure 5A ) showed that two articles appear simultaneously in the bibliography of the third cited document. The top 20 co-cited references (over the past decade) summarized in ASD studies are listed in Supplementary Table S2 . Most of this highly cited literature focuses on the genetic field, discovering genetic risk loci and associated mutations, constructing mutation networks highly associated with autism, and identifying genes associated with autism synaptic destruction. Some studies indicated that de novo mutations in ASD might partially explain the etiology. Multiple studies have revealed genetic variants associated with ASD, such as rare copy number variants (CNVs), de novo likely gene-disrupting (LGD) mutations, missense or nonsense de novo variants, and de novo duplications. In the cluster network graph, different colors represent varied clusters, and each node represents a cited paper, displaying the distribution of topics in the field ( Figure 5B ). The network is divided into 25 co-citation clusters ( Figure 5B ), primarily related to the diagnosis, etiology, and intervention of autism. The etiological studies include five clusters, de novo mutation, inflammation, gut microbiota, mitochondrial dysfunction, and mouse model. Intervention literature focuses on early intensive behavioral intervention, intranasal oxytocin, video modeling, and multisensory integration. The diagnostic aspects of ASD include neuroimaging functional connectivity and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). In addition, some of the references focus on gender/sex differences and sleep problems. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new cluster for autism research.

Mapping on co-cited references. (A) A network map showing the co-cited references. (B) Co-cited clusters with cluster labels.

Co-occurrence analysis of keywords

The co-occurrence analysis of keywords in ASD research articles was performed using VOSviewer software; the keywords that occurred ≥200 times were analyzed after being grouped into four clusters of different colors ( Figure 6A ); the temporal distribution of keywords is summarized in Figure 6B . This map identifies various categories of research: Etiological mechanisms (red), Clinical features (green), Intervention features (blue), and the Asperger cluster (yellow). In the “Etiological mechanisms” cluster, the research includes brain structure and function, genetics, and neuropathology. In the “Clinical features” cluster, the common keywords were “symptoms,” “diagnosis,” “prevalence,” and its comorbidities, including “anxiety” and “sleep.” In the “Intervention features” cluster, the research population of ASD is concentrated in “young children,” “intervention,” and “communication.” These interventions improve the learning and social skills through the involvement of parents and schools.

Keywords co-occurrence network. (A) Cluster analysis of keywords. There are four clusters of keywords: red indicates Cluster 1 ( n  = 145), green indicates Cluster 2 ( n  = 104), blue indicates Cluster 3 ( n  = 78), yellow indicates Cluster 4 ( n  = 80). (B) Evolution of keyword frequency. A minimum number of occurrences of a keyword = 200. Overall, 407 keywords met the threshold criteria. The yellow keywords appear later than purple keywords.

The 100 top-cited publications

The screening of the 100 most cited publications on ASD between 2011 and 2022 by Bibliometrix software package, each with >500 citations. The detailed evaluation index information for countries, institutions, journals, and authors ( Supplementary Tables S3 – S6 ).

Taken together, the results indicated that the United States is the country that publishes the most highly cited articles ( n  = 64), including single-country publications ( n  = 37) and multiple-country publications ( n  = 27); most articles are from academic institutions within the USA ( Figures 7A , ​ ,B B ).

Analysis of the 100 top-cited publications Characteristics of 100 top-cited publications. The most relevant countries (A) , affiliations (B) , journals (C) and authors (D) . Trend topics (E) and thematic evolution (F) of 100 top-cited publication. Coupling Map (G) : the coupled analysis of the article, references and keywords is carried out, the centrality of the x -axis is displayed, the y -axis is the impact, and the confidence (conf%) is calculated.

The 100 top-cited ASD publications were published in 48 journals; 17 articles were published in Nature ( n  = 17), making it the highest h-index journal in this list ( Supplementary Table S5 ). In addition, 10 articles were published in Cell, and 7 articles were published in Nature Genetics ( Figure 7C ). When considering the individual authors’ academic contributions, Bernie Devlin provided 13 publications, followed by Kathryn Roeder and Stephan J Sanders, with 11 publications each ( Figure 7D ). The details of the top 10 top-cited papers are summarized in Table 5 . An article titled “A general framework for estimating the relative pathogenicity of human genetic variants” published by Martin Kircher in Nature Genetics, received the highest number of citations ( n  = 3,353).

Detail of top 10 citation paper.

The 100 top-cited ASD articles encompassed a range of keywords ( Figure 7E ) and displayed the main cluster of themes through specific periods (2011–2022) by analyzing those in the selected literature. The Sankey diagrams of thematic evolution explain the topics that evolved throughout the years ( Figure 7F ). In summary, the core topics of the ASD field in 2011–2014 consisted of the risk of childhood ASD and further developed into the field of human genetic variants, such as CNV and de novo mutations. In the subperiod 2015–2020, the further expansion of studies in this field leads to new clusters, such as “immune system,” “brain development,” and “fecal microbiota.” Genome research in the upper right quadrant, including mutations and risk, is a major and evolving theme. The coupled map showing the brain-gut axis field, including intestinal microbiota and chain fatty acids, located in the lower right corner is crucial for autism research but is not yet well-developed ( Figure 7G ). The research on autism, including animal models, schizophrenia, is a well-developed field, but that on high-functioning autism and diagnosis is a marginal field.

This study used various bibliometric tools and software to analyze the published articles on ASD based on the WoSCC database from 2011 to 2022. By 2022, the annual number of publications and citations of ASD-related research showed an overall upward trend, reflecting the sustained interest and the diversity of areas.

General information

In terms of regional distribution, researchers from different countries and regions have participated in autism research, and international cooperation has been relatively close over the past decade. The scientific research is supported by several countries and institutions, as well as by large-scale international cooperation ( 28 , 29 ). The USA has the highest collaboration performance, especially with UK, Canada, Australia and China. In addition to the limitations of financial aid, ethical, cultural, and racial issues are complex constraints that should be overcome for more diversity in autism research ( 30 , 31 ). We speculated that further collaboration between institutions and countries could promote autism research.

Among the top 20 academic journals, most of the papers were in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. The frequent publishing of ASD-related papers indicates the interest of readers and journal editors in Autism. Also, substantial studies have been carried out on ASDs, autism, and molecular autism. These journals are ascribed to the field of ASD, focusing on autism research and communication ASD science. However, the analysis of the 10 most cited publications revealed that they were published in such as Nature, Cell, Lancet; these ASD studies were all from high-impact journals.

From the perspective of authors, some of them have made outstanding contributions to global ASD research. Professor Catherine Lord, the top rank for h-index, m-index analysis conducted by the author, and who developed the two gold standards for autism diagnosis ( 32 , 33 ), are the most influencing factors in the field. ASD is a disease with complex genetic roots. Dr. Catherine Lord has conducted multiple studies using genome-wide association study (GWAS) and gene set analysis to identify variant signatures in autism ( 34 ). A recent meta-analysis showed that 74–93% of ASD risk is heritable, with an analysis of CNVs that highlights the key role of rare and de novo mutations in the etiology of ASD ( 35 ). Variation-affected gene clusters on networks associated with synaptic transmission, neuronal development, and chromatin regulation ( 36 , 37 ). The identification of the cross-disorder genetic risk factors found by assessing SNP heritability in five psychiatric disorders ( 38 ). Five of the top 10 cited papers in Table 5 focus on genetic variation, suggesting that over the past decade, research has shifted from a general concept of genetic risk to the different types of genetic variations associated with autism.

Simon Baron-Cohen of the Autism Research Center at the University of Cambridge was the most published author between 2011 and 2021. He contributed to the mind-blindness hypothesis of autism, developed the autism spectrum quotient (AQ) screening tool for autism, and focused on gender differences in autism ( 39 – 41 ). There are gender/sex differences in the volume and tissue density of brain regions, including the amygdala, hippocampus, and insula, and the heart-blind hypothesis links emotional recognition in individuals with autism to deficits in the amygdala ( 41 – 43 ). Then, Simon et al. backed up the “extreme male brain” theory of autism in a study of 36,000 autistic individuals aged 16–89 ( 44 ). Recently, an increasing number of studies from different perspectives have focused on how sex/gender differences are related to autism ( 4 , 5 , 45 ). In the future, studies of neural dimorphism in brain development in autism need to be conducted across the lifespan to reduce age-induced biases ( 41 ).

Hotspots and Frontiers

Keyword analysis was a major indicator for research trends and hotspot analysis. This study shows that keywords for autism research include etiological mechanism, clinical characteristics, and intervention characteristics. Genetic, environmental, epigenetic, brain structure, neuropathological, and immunological factors have contributed to studying its etiological mechanism ( 46 , 47 ). The studies on the abnormal cortical development in ASD have reported early brain overgrowth ( 48 ), reduced resting cerebral blood flow in the medial PFC and anterior cingulate ( 49 ), focal disruption of neuronal migration ( 50 ), and transcriptomic alterations in the cerebral cortex of autism ( 51 ). Genomics studies have identified several variants and genes that increase susceptibility to autism, affecting biological pathways related to chromatin remodeling, regulation of neuronal function, and synaptic development ( 51 – 54 ). In addition, many autism-related genes are enriched in cortical glutamatergic neurons, and mutations in the genes encoding these proteins result in neuronal excitation-inhibitory balance ( 51 , 55 ). A recent study using single-cell sequencing of the developing human cerebral cortex found strong cell-type-specific enrichment of noncoding mutations in ASD ( 56 ). Interestingly, genes interact with the environment; some studies have shown that environmental exposure during pregnancy is a risk factor for brain development ( 57 ), and there are changes in DNA methylation in the brains of ASD patients, reflecting an underlying epigenetic dysregulation.

Presently, the diagnosis of ASD is mainly based on symptoms and behaviors, but the disease has a high clinical heterogeneity, and the individual differences between patients are obvious ( 58 ). In this study, the keywords of the intervention cluster show the importance of early individualized intervention. Patient data are multidimensional, and individualized diagnoses could be made at multiple levels, such as age, gender, clinical characteristics, and genetic characteristics ( 59 ). Early individual genetic diagnosis aids clinical evaluation, ranging from chromosomal microarray (CMA) to fragile X genetic testing ( 60 ). However, the results of genetic research cannot guide the treatment. Notably, the treatment of autism is dominated by educational practices and behavioral interventions ( 61 ). Medication may address other co-occurring conditions, such as sleep disturbances, epilepsy, and gastrointestinal dysfunction ( 9 ). Professor Catherine Lord pointed out that the future of autism requires coordinated, large-scale research to develop affordable, individualized, staged assessments and interventions for people with ASD ( 62 ). Professor Baron-Cohen noted that increasing the sample size and collecting data from the same individual multiple times could reduce heterogeneity ( 58 ). In addition, screening for objective and valid biomarkers in the future would help to stratify diagnosis and reduce heterogeneity.

According to the keyword trend analysis of 100 highly cited documents, the genetic risk of autism was determined as the hot focus of research, and immune dysregulation and gut microbiome are the new development frontiers after 2015. Patients with ASD have altered immune function, microglia activation was observed in postmortem brain samples, and increased production of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines was observed in cerebrospinal fluid. The microglia are involved in synaptic pruning, and cytokines also affect neuronal migration and axonal projections ( 63 – 65 ). In addition, abnormal peripheral immune responses during pregnancy might affect the developing brain, increasing likelihood of autism ( 66 ). Several studies have pointed to abnormalities in immune-related genes in the brain and peripheral blood of autistic patients ( 51 , 67 , 68 ). Immune dysfunction is involved in the etiology of ASD and mediates the accompanying symptoms of autism. The patients have multiple immune-related diseases, asthma, allergic rhinitis, Crohn’s disease, and gastrointestinal dysfunction ( 69 – 71 ). Children with frequent gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal pain, gas, constipation, or diarrhea, had pronounced social withdrawal and stereotyped behavior ( 70 – 72 ). Several studies suggested that these autism-related gastrointestinal problems might be related to intestinal microbiota composition ( 72 – 74 ). Accumulating evidence suggested that the microbiota-gut-brain axis influences human neurodevelopment, a complex system involving immune, metabolic, and vagal pathways in which bacterial metabolites directly affect the brain by disrupting the gut and blood–brain barrier ( 75 – 78 ). Fecal samples from children with autism contained high Clostridium species and low Bifidobacterium species ( 79 , 80 ). Probiotics can modulate gut microbiota structure and increase the relative abundance of Bifidobacteria , and clinical studies have shown that supplementation with probiotic strains improves attention problems in children with autism ( 81 , 82 ). Recent clinical trials have shown that microbiota transfer therapy improves gastrointestinal symptoms and autism-like behaviors in children with ASD ( 83 , 84 ).

This scientometric study comprehensively analyzes about a decade of global autism research. Research in the field of autism is increasing, with the United States making outstanding contributions, while neuroscience, genetics, brain imaging studies, or studies of the gut microbiome deepen our understanding of the disorder. The study of the brain-gut axis elucidates the mechanism of immunology in autism, and immunological research may be in the renaissance. The current data serve as a valuable resource for studying ASD. However, the future of autism needs further development. In the future, relevant research should be included for a complete representation of the entire autism population, and further collaboration between individuals, institutions, and countries is expected to accelerate the development of autism research.

Data availability statement

Author contributions.

MJ, DZ, JL, and LW conceived and designed the study. MJ, TL, XL, KY, and LZ contributed to data collection and data analysis. MJ wrote the original manuscript. DZ, JL, and LW revised the article and contributed to the final version of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

This work was supported by grants from the Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (2019B030335001) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 82171537, 81971283, 82071541, and 81730037).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1096769/full#supplementary-material

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APA: Citing Journal Articles  from  Lawrence W. Tyree Library  on  Vimeo . View a transcript  here.

In this tutorial, you will learn the basics for citing journal articles with and without a DOI and how to cite open access journal articles.

Every APA reference needs four parts:  author, date, title,  and  source . As you go through these examples, you will learn how to identify these four parts and how to place and format them into a proper APA reference.

Example 1: A Journal Article with a DOI

For the first example, you will learn how to cite a journal article with a DOI. Often, you will find journal articles online using the library's databases or other online resources. 

The first step is to identify the  author  of the article. The author of this article is Brittanie Atteberry-Ash,

To list an author, write the  last name , a  comma , and the  first and middle initials .

Example: Atteberry-Ash.

Next, identify when this article was published. For journal articles, you typically only need the  year . In this case, this article was published in 2022. You can usually find the date at the top of the article, the cover of the journal, or, for online articles, the article's record.

List the  date  after the author(s), in  parentheses , followed by a  period .

Example: Atteberry-Ash, B. (2022).

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List the  title  of the article after the date. Make sure you only capitalize the  first word of the title ,  the first word of the subtitle , which comes after a colon, and any  proper nouns . End with a period. In this title, only the words Social  and  A  are capitalized.

Example: Atteberry-Ash, B. (2022). Social work and social justice: A conceptual review.

For the last component, you need the  source . For an article, this is the  title of the journal, volume, issue , which is sometimes called  number , and  page numbers  of the article. Usually this information can be found on the cover of the journal, on the table of contents, or at the top of the article. For the page numbers, you should look at the first and last pages of the article. For online articles, this information is usually found in the article's record.

Type the  journal title , in  italics , capitalizing all major words, a comma, the  volume , also in  italics , the  number or issue  in parentheses, a comma, and then the  page numbers  of the article.

Example:  Atteberry-Ash, B. (2022). Social work and social justice: A conceptual review.  Social Work,   68  (1), 38-46.

The last element of the  source  is the  DOI , which stands for Digital Object Identifier. A DOI can be found in the article’s record or on the first page of the article.

Type the  DOI , using the prefix  https://doi.org/ . There is no period after the DOI.

Example:  Atteberry-Ash, B. (2022). Social work and social justice: A conceptual review.  Social Work,   68  (1), 38-46. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swac042

If you refer to a work in your paper, either by directly quoting, paraphrasing, or by referring to main ideas, you will need to include an in-text parenthetical citation. There are a number of ways to do this. In this example, a  signal phrase  is used to introduce a direct quote. The  author's name  is given in the text, and the  publication date  and  page number(s)  are enclosed in parentheses at the beginning and end of the sentence.

Example: Atteberry-Ash (2022) notes "social workers are called on to practice socially just values and to address the consequences of oppression, specifically lost opportunity, social disenfranchisement, and isolation" (p. 38).

Example 2: Multiple Authors and No DOI

In this example, most of the components needed for the reference can be found in the article’s record. This article, however, has multiple authors and does not have a DOI listed in its record or in the article itself.

Format all the citation components of this journal article like the first example. For multiple authors, list the authors in the order they are listed in the article. Use a  comma  to separate each author and an  ampersand (&)  should be placed before the last author’s name. This applies for articles with up to twenty authors. Since there is no DOI listed for this article, simply omit that element. The reference will conclude after the page numbers.  

Example: Penprase, B., Mileto, L., Bittinger, A., Hranchook, A. M., Atchley, J. A., Bergakker, S., Eimers, T., & Franson, H. (2012). The use of high-fidelity simulation in the admissions process: One nurse anesthesia program’s experience.  AANA Journal, 80 (1), 43–48.

If you refer to a work in your paper that has three or more authors, the in-text citation will include the first author's name only, followed by  et al.  which means "and all the rest."

Example: Penprase et al. (2012) states that "Admission into nurse anesthesia programs is known to be a competitive process among a diverse pool of candidates" (p. 43).

Example 3: An Open Access Journal Article

This article was found in  PLOS One  which is an open access journal. Open access journal articles are articles with the full text freely available online and do not require logging in.

You will need all of the same information from the previous examples to cite an open access article. In this example, most of this information can be found at the top of the article.

In this example, the article's volume, issue, and the  article number  are found in the citation provided by the journal. Article numbers are used in place of page numbers in some online journals.

The format for open access journals is the same as the other examples. In this example, an article number is used in place of the page numbers. After the issue number, type  Article  and then the article number. If an open access journal does not provide a DOI, you may provide the URL of the article instead. Only include the URL if it directly brings you to the full text of the article without logging in.

Example: Francis, H. M., Stevenson, R. J., Chambers, J. R., Gupta, D., Newey, B., & Lim, C. K. (2019). A brief diet intervention can reduce symptoms of depression in young adults – A randomised controlled trial.  PLOS ONE, 14 (1), Article e0222768. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222768

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Applied Behavior Analysis in Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Scoping Review

• Original Research
• Open access
• Published: 18 May 2022
• Volume 45 , pages 521–557, ( 2022 )

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• Mojgan Gitimoghaddam   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4208-5367 1 ,
• Natalia Chichkine 2 ,
• Laura McArthur 2 ,
• Sarabjit S. Sangha 2 , 3 &
• Vivien Symington 2  

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This manuscript provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of applied behavior analysis (ABA) on children and youth with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Seven online databases and identified systematic reviews were searched for published, peer-reviewed, English-language studies examining the impact of ABA on health outcomes. Measured outcomes were classified into eight categories: cognitive, language, social/communication, problem behavior, adaptive behavior, emotional, autism symptoms, and quality of life (QoL) outcomes. Improvements were observed across seven of the eight outcome measures. There were no included studies that measured subject QoL. Moreover, of 770 included study records, only 32 (4%) assessed ABA impact, had a comparison to a control or other intervention, and did not rely on mastery of specific skills to mark improvement. Results reinforce the need for large-scale prospective studies that compare ABA with other non-ABA interventions and include measurements of subject QoL to provide policy makers with valuable information on the impacts of ABA and other existing and emerging interventions.

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Introduction

Neurodevelopmental disorders and disabilities (ndd/d).

NDD/D consist of a range of diagnoses and functional impairments of a neurological origin that can present as functional deficits in developmental milestones such as language, communication, social skills, intellect, executive functioning, and motor development (American Psychiatric Association, 2013 ; Miller et al., 2013 ; World Health Organization [WHO], 2001 , 2020 ). The prevalence of NDD/D across developed countries in children and youth 18 years of age and younger ranges from 8% to 15% (Arim et al., 2017 ; Boyle et al., 2011 ; Olusanya et al., 2018 ). Many different conditions and functional limitations are included within the scope of NDD/D, including autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), Down syndrome, and intellectual disabilities (ID). In particular, ASD has garnered much attention worldwide due to its high prevalence and associated socioeconomic and familial costs (Reichow et al., 2018 ).

ASD is a spectrum of diagnosable neurodevelopmental disorders that include pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), Asperger’s syndrome (AS) and autism. ASD typically presents during the developmental period and includes social communication and interaction difficulties, along with restricted and repetitive behaviors, interests, or activities (WHO, 2020 ). The prevalence of these disorders has increased over the past 20 years due to many combining factors. The global estimated prevalence in children and youth 18 years of age or younger is 0.62%–0.70% but could be as high as 1%–2% (Elsabbagh et al., 2012 ; Fombonne, 2009 ; Idring et al., 2012 ; Russell et al., 2014 ). The lifetime cost for families with a member diagnosed with ASD can range from approximately US$1.4 million in the United States and the United Kingdom, when diagnosed without an additional ID, to US$2.4million in the United States and US$2.2million in the United Kingdom if diagnosed concurrently with an ID (Buescher et al., 2014 ). Due to its increasing prevalence, the need for effective, evidence-based interventions for ASD has grown exponentially. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) and the interventions that are developed from its principles are some of the most often cited evidence-based interventions developed for the treatment of those diagnosed with ASD. As such, ASD will be the primary diagnosis of consideration within the current scoping review.

Applied Behavior Analysis

At its core, ABA is the practice of utilizing the psychological principles of learning theory to enact change on the behaviors seen commonly in individuals diagnosed with ASD (Lovaas et al., 1974 ). Ole Ivar Lovaas produced a method based on the principles of B. F. Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning in the 1970s to help treat children diagnosed with ASD (or “autism” at the time) with the goal of altering their behaviors to improve their social interactions (Lovaas et al., 1973 ; Skinner, 1953 ; Smith & Eikeseth, 2011 ). To evaluate this method, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Young Autism Project model was developed and empirically tested by measuring the effects of the intervention when administered one-to-one to children diagnosed with ASD for 40 hr per week over the span of 2–3 years (Lovaas, 1987 ). The remarkable findings revealed that 47% of the children who participated in this treatment reached normal intellectual and educational functioning compared to only 2% of a control group (Lovaas, 1987 ).

ABA has evolved over the past 60 years from the core principles established in the early Lovaas model and subsequent UCLA Young Autism Project into many comprehensive treatment models and focused intervention practices, methods, and teaching strategies, all of which aim to address deficits for children and youth with ASD across all levels of functioning, including cognition, language, social skills, problem behavior, and daily living skills (Reichow et al., 2018 ). One notable and often cited foundational model is “antecedents, behavior, and consequences,” otherwise known as the ABC model, in which manipulating either or both the antecedents and consequences of behavior is intended to increase, decrease, or modify the behavior, thus resulting in a transferrable tool to target behaviors of interest effectively (Bijou et al., 1968 ; Dyer, 2013 ). There are also a number of techniques commonly associated with ABA that are worth noting, including reinforcement, extinction, prompting, video modeling, as well as the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), though many of these are widely used in other intervention and education settings (Granpeesheh et al., 2009 ; Sandbank et al., 2020 ; Stahmer et al., 2005 ).

Some specific comprehensive ABA-based treatment models that are investigated in this review include early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI), Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), and Learning Experiences: An Alternative Program for Preschoolers and Their Parents (LEAP). EIBI is an intensive, comprehensive ABA-based treatment model for young children diagnosed with ASD. EIBI targets children under the age of 5 and is often administered 20–40 hr per week for multiple consecutive years (Matson & Smith, 2008 ; Reichow et al., 2018 ). It is conducted one-to-one in a structured setting such as in the home or school, and often utilizes the discrete trial training (DTT) method (Cohen et al., 2006 ; Smith, 2001 ) in conjunction with other, less structured teaching methods such as natural environment training (Granpeesheh et al., 2009 ). Because this is a comprehensive treatment model, the target of the intervention is across all aspects of functioning such as independent living skills, social skills, motor skills, pre-academic and academic skills, and language (Granpeesheh et al., 2009 ). Another comprehensive ABA-based treatment model is ESDM. This model was developed for children with ASD that fall within the age range of 12–60 months. This intervention builds upon the naturalistic teaching methods within ABA to provide a comprehensive, developmental, and relationship-based behavioral intervention targeted at children early in development (Dawson et al., 2010 ). More recently, some comprehensive ABA treatment models have further shifted away from intensive, operant conditioning based one-to-one models into more naturalistic and generalizable programming. LEAP is one such model for children with ASD because it takes place in public school settings (Strain & Bovey, 2011 ). LEAP was developed from fundamental principles of ABA and includes a variety of methods commonly used in ABA such as Pivotal Response Training (PRT), time delay and incidental teaching, in addition to utilizing peer-mediated interventions and the PECS (Strain & Bovey, 2011 ). It is significant that a core principle of LEAP is to strongly emphasize parental and peer involvement with respect to teaching behavioral strategies and relies on naturally occurring, incidental teaching arrangements, in contrast to the directional, adult-driven instruction used in most other segregated ABA intervention strategies (Hoyson et al., 1984 ; Strain & Bovey, 2011 ).

Within these comprehensive treatment models, focused intervention practices that are often utilized and independently investigated can include, but are not limited to, DTT and naturalistic teaching strategies such as PRT and functional communication training (FCT). DTT is one of the most fundamental focused intervention practices of ABA and utilizes sequences of instruction and repetition in a distraction free, one-to-one setting (Smith, 2001 ). The primary focus of DTT is to teach children new behaviors and discriminations. These new behaviors encompass any behavior that was not previously performed by the child knowingly or unknowingly (Smith, 2001 ). Naturalistic teaching forms of ABA have sought to improve the ability to generalize and maintain the positive effects of behavioral interventions while upholding many of the fundamental principles and behaviorism of ABA (Schreibman et al., 2015 ). One such method of naturalistic teaching is through the focused intervention practice of PRT, developed by Koegel and Koegel ( 2006 ), which is focused on improving the self-initiative and motivation of a child to communicate effectively in common real-life settings (Mohammadzaheri et al., 2015 ). Of note, most of these treatments can involve a professional, though many of the more recent studies and iterations of these treatments seek to involve peers, siblings and family members to encourage generalization to real-world settings and people in the child’s personal life (Mohammadzaheri et al., 2015 ; Steiner et al., 2012 ). Another focused intervention practice and naturalistic teaching method is FCT, a differential reinforcement-based procedure developed by Carr and Durand ( 1985 ) that reduces problem behaviors by replacing them with more appropriate communicative responses. This training is commonly used in conjunction with other ABA methods.

Given the history and range in interventions, there is a degree of variability and confusion in the definition of ABA as a system. Definitions range from rigid protocols for some ABA-based programs to collections of specific techniques associated with ABA, to ABA as a system to evaluate practices rather than as an intervention itself. Granpeesheh et al. ( 2009 ) define ABA as “the application of principles of learning and motivation to the solution of problems of social significance” (p. 163). This definition of ABA as a research strategy echoes that of Baer et al. ( 1968 ) through the later 20th century, in particular in terms of behavior study being: (1) applied, (2) behavioral, (3) analytic, (4) technological, (5) conceptually systematic, (6) effective, and (7) capable of generalized outcomes. Agency definitions tend to define it as a therapy, likewise noted by Schreibman et al. ( 2015 ), with different approaches listed as types. For instance, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines ABA as a treatment approach, with examples such as DTT, EIBI, ESDM, PRT, and verbal behavior intervention (VBI; CDC & National Center on Birth Defects & Developmental Disabilities, 2019 ). The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIH) lists positive behavioral support (PBS), PRT, EIBI, and DTT as types of ABA (Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, 2021 ). The Autism Society( n.d. ) follows the same definition as Baer et al., whereas other intervention types such as PRT and extinction are described as ABA procedures or as sharing principles of ABA. Many ABA-derived programs define certain expectations of their practices specifically, such as EIBI setting, intensity, duration, and personnel, although their methods list a variety of techniques deemed ABA-based, such as DTT, precision teaching, and incidental teaching. As combined approaches become more common, it is becoming more difficult to differentiate interventions considered to be ABA-derived from other non-ABA labeled interventions (Smith, 2012 ).

All of the research into these methods, programs, and comprehensive models, combined with the continued investigations into the traditional applications of the ABA-based interventions, results in a wealth of research about the impact of ABA on children and youth with ASD, in particular with respect to improvements in cognitive measures, language skills, and adaptive skills (Eldevik et al., 2009 ; Virués-Ortega, 2010 ). The ensuing amount of scientific evidence has resulted in ABA being considered a “best practice” and thus endorsed by the governments of Canada and the United States for the treatment of children and youth with ASD (Government of Canada, 2018 ; U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 1999 ).

Rationale for Current Scoping Review

As ABA is a broad intervention which includes many different methods and programs, reviews of the entire scope of the current research are uncommon. To our knowledge, a comprehensive review of the current ABA literature that spans all ABA methods and outcomes for children and youth with ASD, and that includes randomized controlled trials (RCT), clinical controlled trials (CCT), and single-case experimental design (SCED) studies, has not been completed. The current literature consists primarily of systematic reviews and meta-analyses that have investigated the quantifiable and qualitative outcomes of ABA on children with ASD, but few of these studies include SCED, and the results across the reviews inconsistently show significant improvement with ABA interventions.

For example, in a meta-analysis by Virués-Ortega ( 2010 ), the effectiveness of ABA was investigated across 22 included studies with respect to as many outcomes as possible, including language development, social functioning, intellectual functioning, and daily living skills, for those diagnosed with ASD (Virués-Ortega, 2010 ). The results of this meta-analysis suggested that ABA interventions that were implemented in early childhood and were long-term and comprehensive in design did result in a positive medium to large effect in the areas of language development (pooled effect size of 1.48 for receptive language, 1.47 for expressive language), intellectual functioning (pooled effect size 1.19), acquisition of daily living skills (pooled effect size 0.62), and social functioning (pooled effect size 0.95), when compared to a control group that did not receive ABA intervention. This mirrors the meta-analysis of 29 articles conducted by Makrygianni et al. ( 2018 ), where it was found that ABA programs for children with ASD resulted in moderate to very effective improvements in expressive and receptive language skills, communication skills, nonverbal IQ scores, total adaptive behavior, and socialization, but lesser improvements in daily living skills. In a 2018 meta-analysis by Reichow et al. ( 2018 ), the changes in autism severity, functional behaviors and skills, intelligence, and communication skills were investigated across five articles that included one RCT and four CCTs for EIBI. After conducting meta-analyses of these studies, it was found that the evidence for EIBI improving adaptive behavior compared to treatment as usual comparison groups was positive but weak (mean difference [ MD ] = 9.58; 95% confidence interval ( CI ) 5.57–13.60), whereas there was no evidence that EIBI improved autism symptom severity (standardized mean difference [ SMD ] = −0.34; 95% CI −0.79–0.11; Reichow et al., 2018 ). Therefore, the current literature appears to indicate inconsistent results with respect to the magnitude of improvements seen as a result of ABA interventions for children and youth with ASD.

With respect to the wealth of SCEDs included throughout the ABA literature, Wong et al. ( 2013 ) have noted that existing reviews rarely capture these types of studies, with two notable exceptions conducted by the National Autism Center ( 2009 ) and the National Professional Development Center on ASD (NPDC; Odom et al., 2010 ). These studies still had some key exclusions: the National Autism report excluded articles that (1) did not have statistical analyses, (2) did not include linear graphical presentation of the data for SCEDs, or (3) used qualitative methods, whereas the NPDC report searched for studies on behavioral strategies that fulfilled the requirements of being an evidence-based practice, as defined by the authors (National Autism Center, 2009 , 2015 ; Odom et al., 2010 ). Neither of these reports evaluated the entire scope of the available ABA research with respect to children and youth with ASD, potentially missing the value of the studies that were excluded.

The purpose of the current review therefore is to evaluate the available literature on ABA as an intervention approach in the treatment of ASD in children and youth in an effort to help instruct the scientific community on the most beneficial directions for future research. Moreover, as ABA is commonly recognized at a governmental level as evidence-based, a review of the current ABA literature will help inform other existing and emerging therapies and interventions, researchers, policy makers, and the public of the standard to which established, evidence-based interventions are held. This is accomplished by collecting, compiling, and discussing the available data on the most common outcomes and methods. This includes the most common journals of publication, population metrics, and the transferability of this prominent therapy approach to the real world. As such, the objectives of this scoping review are to examine the extent, range, and nature of research activities regarding the impact of ABA on children and youth with ASD and to identify any gaps in the existing literature regarding ABA outcomes and research designs.

A scoping review study design was selected for the current investigation. According to Colquhoun et al. ( 2014 ), “a scoping review is a form of knowledge synthesis that addresses an exploratory research question aimed at mapping key concepts, types of evidence, and gaps in research related to a defined area or field by systematically searching, selecting, and synthesizing existing knowledge” (p. 1293). Scoping reviews differ from systematic reviews in that they provide an overview of existing evidence regardless of the quality (Tricco et al., 2016 ), and may not formally assess study rigor (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005 ).

The current scoping review was conducted to gather an understanding of the scope of available research regarding the use of ABA as an intervention for children and youth living with NDD/D, and in particular ASD. For the purposes of the current review, ABA will be defined as an intervention informed and developed from behavioral analytic approaches for the treatment of children and youth with ASD. The effect of ABA is defined as the measurable changes in a participant's various outcomes as a result of receiving ABA intervention. These outcomes were not predefined to prevent missing any possible impact. The review comprised a database search, as well as a reference search of selected reviews. A second phase of the literature search was conducted to update the sample to reflect more recent literature. A guiding document by Tricco et al. ( 2016 ) was used for direction and as a reference for conducting this review.

Search Strategy

An initial search was conducted across PubMed, MEDLINE (EBSCOHost), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsychINFO, Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) utilizing medical subject heading (MeSH) search terms and limitations to describe the relevant population in the initial search (children and youth with NDD/D) and intervention (ABA) (see Appendix 1 for a full list of search terms for each database). Additional limitations of the search were English language publications, subject age range of 0–18 years, and publication date range. The search was conducted in two phases: January 1, 1997 through December 31, 2017, and January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2020.

Several reviews were selected for a further text search. Data were not extracted directly from eligible reviews. Instead, their selected articles were screened and added to the sample if they were not already included in the initial search. This process was repeated for any secondary reviews that occurred as well. These additions were excluded from the publication date limitation, resulting in the inclusion of a number of studies outside of the initial search date range. Review and meta-analysis results were not coded.

Selection Criteria

A PICO (population, intervention, comparison, outcome) framework was used to guide the selection of articles. Population and intervention were used as eligibility criteria. Although the intervention was restricted to ABA, the population was originally defined broadly as NDD/D in an effort to capture as much of the applicable literature as possible, and later revised to focus on ASD and mixed diagnoses (ASD and other). This included populations where some subjects had other non-ASD diagnoses, such as ADHD, Down syndrome, or ID, whether they co-occurred with ASD within subjects or presented across subjects. Non-ASD diagnoses observed in the mixed-diagnoses category of the current review are described in the results (“Results: Description of Included Studies”) and in Appendix 2 . Outcome was not considered because one objective of the current scoping review was to identify the measured outcomes. Comparison was not used so as not to limit the scope of the review. Study design was not limited in the initial search.

Inclusion criteria for article selection during the initial search comprised (1) English language articles that are (2) about the effects of ABA on (3) children and youth (birth to 18 years) with NDD/D, within (4) the timeframe of January 1, 1997 through December 31, 2020. As described above, screened articles included from selected reviews and secondary reviews were exempt from the date range limitations.

Exclusion criteria comprised (1) hospital-based (inpatient) settings and mixed-setting studies (i.e., those including some inpatient subjects); (2) use of qualitative research methods; (3) publications that are not “research-based” (e.g., newsletters, books); (4) populations exceeding 18 years of age; and (5) combined interventions if not looking specifically at the effectiveness of ABA intervention. In cases of mixed age (i.e. including subjects over 18 years of age) or mixed population (i.e., including typically developing subjects), studies were excluded if it was not possible to extract results for the target population separately. Inpatient settings were excluded because the focus of the current scoping review was on community offerings, not hospital services. A small number of studies were excluded when the methods did not align with typical ABA outcome measures, such as those training response hierarchies or attempting to condition new reinforcers. A library search was conducted for studies that could not be accessed in full online, and any that could not be found were subsequently excluded.

When the diagnostic criteria were narrowed to focus primarily on ASD, articles that contained only non-ASD diagnoses were excluded.

Screen Process and Study Selection

Articles from the original search of online databases were exported to Mendeley® Desktop versions 1.19–2.62.0, a reference management software, where most duplicate studies were automatically identified and removed. Any remaining duplicates from both the database and review search were removed manually. Titles and abstracts of all retrieved articles were then independently reviewed by two researchers following the outlined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Studies were included if the independent reviewers reached agreement, or after further discussion with a third reviewer. Retained articles then underwent full text review for inclusion, following the same steps.

Data Extraction

Articles included following the full text review then underwent data extraction. Extracted data comprised first author, title, year of publication, origin of study, funding sources, study aim, study design, duration of intervention, duration of study, population size, population description, setting, measurement outcomes, measurement tools, and key findings. In cases where results were reported individually for each subject, they were extracted as such. In larger scale studies where only group results were reported, group results were extracted, so long as the group included only the target population.

Data Coding and Synthesis

In general, the entire sample of records included for coding and synthesis was subdivided into three sections concerned with: (1) general ABA Impact, (2) Comparisons of ABA Techniques, and (3) Between-Groups Comparisons of ABA to control or other interventions. These divisions are visually summarized in Figure 1 and are described below. All records underwent general data coding of basic study information, as well as specific outcome coding, also described below. (Details about coding definitions can be found in Appendix 2 .) Simplified extraction tables for these three subdivisions are available in Appendix 3 (Tables S1 , S2 , and S3 ).

Flowchart Describing the Process of the Current Scoping Review Search, Screening, Data Extraction, and Coding. Note. From an initial search comprising 2,948 records, after screening studies and subdividing multipart studies, a total of 770 study records remained. These were coded in three categories: Comparisons of ABA Techniques, ABA Impact, and Between-Groups Comparisons. Designed with reference to Tricco et al. ( 2016 ) and created using diagrams.net ™/draw.io® from JGraph Ltd. Note that three study records were included in both the ABA Impact section and the Comparisons of ABA Techniques section (Mello et al., 2018 ; Rad et al., 2019 ; Vietze & Lax, 2020 ), and three study records were included in all three coding sections (Dugan, 2006 ; Kalgotra et al., 2019 ; Kovshoff et al., 2011 ).

During the process of coding, articles containing multiple concurrent or consecutive studies were separated into discrete rows, and will hereafter be treated as self-contained studies in this review. In all figures and further text, all coded rows are referred to as “study records.” Once separated, researchers identified and excluded (1) functional analyses or studies focused on their use, (2) preference assessments or studies focused on their use, and (3) predictive studies. Study records were coded independently by two researchers and then discussed to obtain agreement, or referred to a third researcher to obtain agreement. During coding, any further study records found to satisfy the exclusion criteria were excluded.

Items selected for general data coding included publication details, population metrics, and several specific study methods. The population metrics were age, sex, and diagnosis of participants. (Detail on the population coding values can be found in Appendix 2 ). Study records were additionally coded and compared by two independent researchers to identify inclusion of the following methods: (1) follow-up or maintenance, (2) mastery or criterion measures, (3) generalization. Studies including comparison groups were further coded by one researcher to identify the presence of (1) a control group (typically consisting of “eclectic” or treatment as usual), (2) comparisons to other non-ABA intervention/s, or (3) a mix of these.

After general data coding, the sample was separated into two groups for outcome coding: ABA Impact and Comparisons of ABA Techniques. The majority of study records fell into the ABA Impact section, in which study records measured the change in outcomes (e.g., amount improved) as a result of exposure to ABA intervention. In contrast, study records that were primarily concerned with comparing multiple techniques or intensities of ABA were reserved for the Comparisons of ABA Techniques section, because general ABA impact could not easily be determined for the entire study population in these studies. Finally, a select number of study records from the ABA Impact section where ABA interventions were also compared to a control or different intervention were coded a second time to describe these comparisons in the Between-Groups Comparisons section. As noted in Fig. 1 , some studies from the ABA Impact section also fell into the Comparisons of ABA Techniques section, or into all three sections.

Although the search was not restricted, the observed outcome measures were classified into eight categories: cognitive, language, social/communication, problem behavior, adaptive behavior, emotional, autism symptoms, and quality of life (QoL) outcomes. At first, QoL was included to help describe the generalizability and real-life utility of ABA interventions, following the example of Reichow et al. ( 2018 ). However, as no instances of subject QoL measures occurred in this search, this outcome is not included in the subsequent synthesis. Within each category, outcomes were generally classified as improvement, regression, mix, or no change, as can be seen in the extraction tables (Tables S1 , S2 , and S3 in Appendix 3 ).

When more than two variables or interventions were compared, which sometimes occurred in the Comparisons of ABA Techniques and Between-Groups Comparison sections, study records were discussed and split into discrete rows by two researchers to represent simplified or single-variable comparisons in each row. These are termed “comparison records” for the purpose of coding and synthesis. As seen in Tables S2 and S3 in Appendix 3 , further detail was extracted regarding the category of techniques or interventions compared and the relative effectiveness of each.

Prior to coding, researchers categorized outcome measures, measurement scales or strategies, and intervention categories observed during the extraction process into tables in an effort to mitigate potential inconsistencies in coding. For example, in the Comparisons of ABA Techniques section, categories were broadly defined as Teaching, Stimulus Characteristics, Reinforcement, Subject/Setting Characteristics, and Comparisons of ABA Interventions. Further descriptions of these and other categories can be found in Appendix 2 .

Further details on general data coding, as well as outcome coding for ABA Impact, Comparisons of ABA Techniques, and Between-Groups Comparisons can be found in Appendix 2 . Extractions for all three sections can be found in Tables S1 , S2 , and S3 , respectively, in Appendix 3 .

All statistical analyses, compilations, and tabulations were completed using Microsoft® Excel® versions 1805-2111. Descriptive analyses (means, medians, etc.) were calculated using native Excel® functions. Pivot tables were utilized to tabulate frequencies. Figures were generated using Microsoft® Excel® version 2016 MSO, Microsoft® Word® versions 2011–2111, and diagrams.net ™/draw.io® by JGraph Ltd.

In addition, some qualitative characteristics were explored as well, such as observations about the types of methods used in the interventions encountered, the degree of mastery and generalization measures, and how targeted the interventions and measurement tools were.

Identified Studies

As shown in Fig. 1 , the record selection process differed slightly between the two searches spanning 1997–2017 and 2018–2020. This is because the diagnostic criteria for the current manuscript were updated to exclude populations that only contained non-ASD diagnoses, and the removal of records satisfying the new criteria took place at different points for each search.

The database searches yielded a total of 2,074 entries after import to Mendeley®, and 874 entries from selected reviews and secondary reviews. Ten systematic reviews were identified and investigated for the literature search (Brunner & Seung, 2009 ; Dawson & Bernier, 2013 ; Makrygianni et al., 2018 ; Mohammadzaheri et al., 2015 ; Reichow et al., 2014 , 2018 ; Rodgers et al., 2020 ; Shabani & Lam, 2013 ; Spreckley & Boyd, 2009 ; Virués-Ortega, 2010 ). After pulling references from the first five (Brunner & Seung, 2009 ; Dawson & Bernier, 2013 ; Makrygianni et al., 2018 ; Rodgers et al., 2020 ; Shabani & Lam, 2013 ), it was found that the references in the remaining five reviews were duplicates of previously identified references. Secondary reviews from Seida et al. ( 2009 ) and Dawson and Burner ( 2011 ), both cited by Dawson and Bernier ( 2013 ), were also investigated for references (Bassett et al., 2000 ; Bellini & Akullian, 2007 ; Delano, 2007 ; Diggle et al., 2002 ; Horner et al., 2002 ; Hwang & Hughes, 2000 ; Lee et al., 2007 ; McConachie & Diggle, 2007 ; Odom et al., 2003 ; Reichow & Volkmar, 2010 ; Smith, 1999 ). Records from Brunner and Seung ( 2009 ) that were categorized into treatment models that did not fulfill the definition of ABA as per the current review were not considered. In addition, the secondary review by Vismara and Rogers ( 2010 ) was not considered because it was a narrative review. After removing duplicates or entries already existing in the database search, 1,577 entries remained from the database search and 525 from reviews, for a total of 2,102 records.

A total of 1,337 records were removed during title, abstract, and full-text screening because they met the exclusion criteria, were duplicate records, were reviews, or contained only non-ASD diagnoses. Multipart studies were separated into discrete records, yielding a total of 849 study records. A further 34 were excluded at this stage as they were preference assessments, functional analyses, or were concerned with training response hierarchies or conditioning reinforcers, leaving 815 study records. When the diagnostic inclusion criteria were revised, any remaining records containing only non-ASD diagnoses were excluded.

Thus, the total sample included in the quantitative and qualitative synthesis comprised 770 study records. This entire sample was analyzed for general data metrics (see Fig. 1 ). References for the 709 included articles can be found in Appendix 4 .

Description of Included Studies

Overall, agreement between raters was approximately 80% across all coding categories. The range of included outcome categories was selected in order not to limit the scope of the literature search and synthesis for this review so that a comprehensive review of the application of ABA for ASD and mixed-diagnosis populations across the entire time span and age range of the search could be conducted. Frequently occurring other diagnoses in the mixed-diagnoses category included ADHD; ID; global developmental delay (GDD) or other developmental delays; oppositional defiant disorder (ODD); Down syndrome; cerebral palsy (CP); fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD); Angelman syndrome; Fragile X; obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); Tourette syndrome; traumatic brain injury (TBI); epilepsy or seizure disorders; sensory integration or processing disorders; speech/language delays; learning disabilities; and behavior, emotional, or mood disorders.

The most frequently occurring publication year was 2020. The earliest publication reviewed was from 1977 and the most recent from 2020. Thirty percent were from 2000–2009 and 61% were from 2010–2020. The remaining years comprised 9% of the journals reviewed.

The 5-year impact factor (IF) characteristics were determined by removing duplicate journals prior to calculation. IFs were accessed from Journal Citation Reports, via Clarivate™. The unique median IF was 2.56. The lowest impact journal had an IF of 0.71 and the highest had an IF of 9.92. Most of the reviewed study records were from the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (55%). The next most frequent journal was the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders , representing 4% of the journal cohort. Dissertations accounted for 4% of the cohort. Analysis of Verbal Behavior and Behavioral Interventions each made up 3% of our journal cohort, and the remaining journals contributed 1%–2% each. Journals contributing less than 1% were grouped as “Other,” making up 16% of the total cohort. Within the cohort of study records, 48% of records had participants that were solely male, 45% were of mixed sex, and 4% of the publications had solely female participants. Seventy-six percent of study records had participants with only ASD, and 24% had participants in the mixed-diagnoses category.

In the study records reviewed, 33% had one or two participants, whereas 31% of the publications had three participants, and 13% had four. Study records with 5 to 9 participants accounted for 11% of the total and 13% had more than 10 participants. The median number of participants was 3, whereas the mean number of participants was 8.12.

Overall, it was found that study records that included a smaller sample size (e.g., N ≤ 4) often investigated specific skills, tasks, or responses that varied based on each specific child (Gongola, 2009 ; Plavnick & Ferreri, 2011 ; Sullivan et al., 2020 ). Many studies modified the intervention or the definition of mastery dependent on the child or task given (Charlop-Christy & Daneshvar, 2003 ; Charlop et al., 1985 ; Ezzeddine et al., 2020 ; Lyons et al., 2007 ; Romaniuk et al., 2002 ).

Within the cohort of study records, 41% had some follow-up measure, 40% had some criterion or mastery measure, and 31% of publications had some generalization measure.

Study Outcomes and Findings

After the general data coding stage, any study records from the total sample ( N = 770) looking only at ABA Impact were coded for outcomes ( N = 551), i.e., improvement, regression, mix, or no change in the eight outlined outcome categories. Any study records comparing different ABA techniques ( N = 225) were designated for the next section (see “Comparisons of ABA Techniques,” below). The eight outcomes considered were cognitive, language, social/communication, problem behavior, adaptive behavior, emotional, autism symptoms, and QoL outcomes. Subject QoL is not reported in any tables, as there were no instances of this outcome being measured in the current cohort of study records.

The majority of study records reported improvement across all outcome categories, with 63%–88% of study records reporting improvement across the various outcome measures. In contrast, 0%–2% reported regression, 13%–36% reported mixed results, and 0%–13% reported no change (Fig. 2 ).

Distribution of Improved, Regressed, Mixed, and Unchanged Results in the ABA Impact Section across the Measured Outcomes ( N = 551 study records)

Percentage Distribution of Results Where One Method Improved More, Results were Mixed, Results had No Change, or Results were Unknown (had No Quantifiable Measure) in Comparisons of ABA Techniques Group across the Measured Outcomes ( N = 225 comparison records)

When observing outcome measures by age group (see Appendix 5 , Table S4 ), among study records conducted with participants between ages 0–5 years, cognitive, language, and social/communication were the most commonly studied outcomes, at 22%, 23%, and 23% respectively. Of these, 66%, 68%, and 57% reported an improvement, respectively. Meanwhile, for ages 6–12, problem behavior and language were the most commonly studied outcomes at 25% each. Among these respective outcomes, 86% and 71% reported improvement. For ages 13–18, the most commonly studied outcome was cognitive (26%), followed by adaptive behavior (20%). Of these, 83% and 86% reported improvement, respectively. Finally, in the mixed-age groups, the most commonly studied outcome was language (28%), followed by social/communication (20%) and cognitive (20%). Of these three most studied outcomes, improvement was reported at 61%, 65%, and 62%, respectively. Detailed findings are available in Table S4 of Appendix 5 .

Outcome measures were also divided by sex. Among the study records that only observed females, the most commonly studied outcome was problem behavior at 33%, with social/communication following at 23%. Improvement was recorded 85% and 67% of the time, respectively, for these outcomes. Among records looking at only males, language was the most studied outcome at 26%, followed by cognitive and social/communication at 21% each. These improved at 62%, 66%, and 59%, respectively. Among publications with mixed sexes, the most studied outcome measures were language (25%), cognitive (22%), and social/communication (21%). Of these, 65%, 71%, and 67% showed improvement, respectively.

Outcome measures were then divided by diagnosis (Tables S5 and S6 ). Among study records solely studying ASD, the most commonly studied outcomes were language, cognitive, and social/communication, making up 25%, 22%, and 22% respectively. Among these respective outcome measures, 68%, 68%, and 63% reported improvement. In the mixed-diagnoses category, the most studied outcomes were problem behavior (31%) and language (22%), with 70% and 58% reporting improvements, respectively. Detailed findings are available in Tables S5 and S6 in Appendix 5 .

Next, secondary measures were classified. These included the presence of follow-up, whether interventions assessed mastery or criterion, and whether interventions assessed generalization. Out of the ABA Impact cohort, 41% had some follow-up, 40% had some measure of mastery/criterion, and 31% had some measure of generalization. Among study records that showed improvement within the various outcome measures, use of follow-up measures varied. Records that recorded improvements in cognitive, language, social/communication, and problem behavior outcomes had follow-up measures 47%–59% of the time. Records recording improvement in adaptive behavior and emotional outcomes had follow-up measures 67% and 64% of the time, respectively. Studies reporting improvement in autism symptoms had follow-up measures 100% of the time (see Appendix 5 , Table S7 ). Within the current cohort, out of the study records that signified some improvement, the frequency of mastery/criterion measures varied. Measures of mastery/criterion ranged from 0% and 14%, respectively, for autism symptoms and problem behavior improved outcomes, to 25% and 29%, respectively, for adaptive behavior and social/communication, and 43%–49% for cognitive, language, and emotional improved outcomes (Table S7 ). With regard to generalization, no study records showing improvements in autism symptoms assessed any measure of generalization. Among other outcomes, generalization measures ranged from 14% for emotional improved outcomes, 24%–29% for problem behavior, adaptive behavior, and cognitive improved outcomes, and 39% and 46%, respectively, for language and social/communication improved outcomes (Table S7 ).

Comparisons of ABA Techniques

Many records from the current search investigated the effectiveness of different ABA methods or variables in delivery. This section of study records was further divided into discrete records wherever more than two variables were compared, for a total of 307 comparison records, which were then coded for outcomes. In this case, coding included which category of comparison was studied, and indicated whether one ABA method performed better, or if the results were mixed or had no change.

Five categories of variables were defined: Teaching, Stimulus Characteristics, Reinforcement, Subject/Setting Characteristics, and Comparing ABA Interventions. These are further described in Appendix 2 . Within these categories, most comparison records were unique in the methods examined and thus could not be easily compared across this selection of records. That said, some trends were identified. First, many different teaching procedures were compared, such as how instructions were provided, tact versus listener training, or serial versus concurrent training (Arntzen & Almås, 2002 ; Delfs et al., 2014 ; Lee & Singer-Dudek, 2012 ). Several comparison records investigated the quality of the teaching procedures, commonly with respect to the integrity of reinforcement or teaching techniques (Carroll et al., 2013 ; Odluyurt et al., 2012 ). Others investigated the differences in personnel delivering the ABA interventions, such as a parent or clinician (Hayward et al., 2009 ; Lindgren et al., 2016 ), or differences in program delivery, such as via specific modeling, reinforcing, or prompting techniques (Campanaro et al., 2020 ; Jessel et al., 2020 ; Quigley et al., 2018 ). A number of comparison records compared time characteristics, such as reinforcement schedules or delays (Majdalany et al., 2016 ; Sy & Vollmer, 2012 ). Factors related to reinforcement in general were commonly compared and diverse in nature, spanning the quality, preference, presentation, and other aspects of reinforcement (Allison et al., 2012 ; Carroll et al., 2016 ; Fisher et al., 2000 ; Groskreutz et al., 2011 ). A few comparison records examined subject characteristics, such as the effectiveness of an ABA intervention based on the age of participant entry into the program or their diagnosis (Luiselli et al., 2000 ; Schreck et al., 2000 ), but slightly more commonly measured was the effectiveness of interventions administered in different settings such as at school, at a clinic, or at home (Hayward et al., 2009 ; Sallows & Graupner, 2005 ; Schreck et al., 2000 ). Some comparison records compared specific ABA intervention techniques, such as PRT, the Lovaas/UCLA model, or response interruption and redirection (RIRD), to one another (Dwiggins, 2009 ; Fernell et al., 2011 ; Lydon et al., 2011 ; Mohammadzaheri et al., 2014 ; Saini et al., 2015 ).

Table S8 (located in Appendix 5 ) displays the Comparisons of ABA Techniques group analysis of various intervention categories compared in the outcome measures. Teaching was the most commonly compared intervention category across six outcome measures, ranging from 38% to 64%, except for emotional (25%), and autism symptoms (10%). Comparing ABA interventions was the most commonly studied comparison in the emotional outcome (50%; 2 out of 4 comparison records), and subject/setting characteristics was the most commonly studied comparison in the autism symptom outcome (70%; 7 out of 10 comparison records). The improvement of one method over another was not always prevalent (Fig. 3 ). Within the cognitive, language, and social/communication outcomes, 37%–40% of comparison records found that one method exhibited greater improvement than the other, whereas 47%–56% had mixed outcomes. This is similar for adaptive behavior, where 52% found that one method exhibited greater improvement and 39% were mixed. On the other hand, outcome measures for problem behavior and autism symptoms more clearly showed that one method exhibited greater improvement, at 65% and 70% (7 out of 10 records), respectively.

Between-Groups Comparisons

Many records also investigated the effectiveness of ABA against other interventions or control groups. From the ABA Impact section, these study records comparing measures between groups ( N = 49) were coded a second time. These were also divided into discrete records whenever more than two groups were compared, for a total of 58 comparison records, which were then coded for outcomes. In this section, coding indicated whether one intervention performed better, or whether there was a mix, no change, or regression. The main interventions of interest in this section were categorized into ABA, EIBI, and I-ABA. Frequent comparisons were to control, which included eclectic (nonspecified), treatment as usual (TAU), or waitlist groups; nursing; portage; the Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship-based intervention (DIR); or other interventions such as sensory integration therapy and the modified sequential-oral-sensory approach (M-SOS). These categories are further detailed in Appendix 2 .

Due to the nature of these interventions, most were longitudinal in study duration, as results were measured after 1 or more years. Moreover, validated measurement tools including Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS), Reynell Developmental Language Scales (RDLS), and Bayley Scales of Infant Development-Revised (BSID-R), were more often used to measure changes in this section than in the ABA Impact and Comparisons of ABA Techniques sections, as well as validated parent/caregiver surveys such as the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist or the Nisonger Child Behavior Rating (Eikeseth et al., 2007 ; Kovshoff et al., 2011 ; Smith et al., 2000 ). Few study records in this category included specific and differentiated probes into the generalization of the improvements seen ( n = 3; Dugan, 2006 ; Leaf et al., 2017 ; Peterson et al., 2019 ), and few included measurements of mastery or criterion ( n = 3; Birnbrauer & Leach, 1993 ; Dugan, 2006 ; Hilton & Seal, 2007 ).

Among the Between-Groups Comparisons (see Appendix 5 , Table S9 ), the ABA coding category was the most often improved, showing improvement over the comparison group at least 36% of the time across all outcomes. I-ABA showed improvement over the comparison 18%–30% of the time among cognitive, language, social/communication, adaptive behavior, and autism symptom outcomes. EIBI showed improvement over the comparison 21%–25% of the time among the cognitive, language, social/communication, and adaptive behavior outcomes. TAU and Other interventions occasionally showed greater improvement in some outcome measures (≤ 22% of the time). Nursery, portage, and DIR showed little to no improvement over ABA treatment groups.

Further Observations between Coding Groups

Figure 4 shows the distribution of the number of participants across the whole sample, ABA Impact, Comparisons of ABA Techniques, and Between-Groups Comparisons cohorts. The highest number of participants in a study record was 332, whereas the lowest was 1. The Between-Groups Comparisons section had the highest median number of participants at 34, and the largest variation in the number of samples with an interquartile range (IQR) of 37. The entire cohort, ABA Impact section and Comparisons of ABA Techniques section each had a median number of 3 and an IQR of 1, respectively.

Distribution of the Number of Participants in the Entire Cohort, ABA Impact, Comparisons of ABA Techniques, and Between-Groups Comparisons sections. Note. The entire cohort, ABA Impact section, and Comparisons of ABA Techniques section each had a median of 3 participants and an IQR of 1, whereas the Between-Groups Comparisons section had a median of 34 participants and an IQR of 37

In addition to having larger sample sizes and more frequent use of validated measurement scales, records in the Between-Groups Comparisons section more often incorporated statistical analyses, approximately 85% of the time compared with approximately 15% of the entire cohort. Although statistical significance was not considered when initially coding the results in order to align with the rest of the sample, an informal review was conducted based on the reported statistical significance of the improvement of one condition over another. Overall, it was found that not all improvements were significant or assessed for statistical significance (Dawson et al., 2010 ; Dugan, 2006 ; Howard et al., 2014 ; Kovshoff et al., 2011 ). Among the outcome measures defined in the current review, some records showed significant improvement in some but not all contributing measures (Eikeseth et al., 2002 ; Reed et al., 2007a ; Zachor et al., 2007 ). Others had statistically significant improvement in all contributing measures of a given outcome (Dixon et al., 2018 ; Howard et al., 2005 ; Lovaas, 1987 ; Novack et al., 2019 ; Smith et al., 2000 ; Zachor et al., 2007 ).

The entire cohort of records explored had few occurrences of RCTs, the “gold standard” of research. Of the 12 identified RCTs, 5 were categorized into this review’s Comparisons of ABA Techniques section, whereas the remaining 7 included comparisons to controls or other interventions (Cihon et al., 2020 ; Dawson et al., 2010 ; Koenig et al., 2010 ; Landa et al., 2011 ; Leaf et al., 2017 , 2020 ; Mohammadzaheri et al., 2014 , 2015 ; Peterson et al., 2019 ; Reitzel et al., 2013 ; Scheithauer et al., 2020 ; Smith et al., 2000 ). In the interest of identifying a subset of more rigorous records, a three-step filter was conducted (Fig. 5 ). This was not a formal assessment of study quality, but rather a way to identify the proportion of investigated studies with several specific characteristics. After removing the section of studies looking at Comparisons of ABA Techniques, as well as any studies assessing mastery or criterion, and following with a filter for any inclusion of a comparison to control or other intervention, 32 study records (4%) remained out of 770. That is, only 4% of the entire sample assessed ABA impact, had a comparison group, and did not rely on mastery of specific skills to mark improvement.

Filter Flow Sheet Representing Study Records after the Subsequent Removal of Various Factors. Note. The first filter removed study records that compared various ABA techniques, where 551 of 770 (72%) of records remained. Next, study records that assessed mastery/criterion were removed, leaving 361 of 770 (47%) of records. Next, study records without any comparison group were removed, leaving 32 of 770 (4% records)

There was an observed increase in the amount of ABA literature between 2018 and 2020 compared to the 20-year search between 1997 and 2017. There was also an observed increase in larger scale studies between 2018 and 2020, as also evidenced by the higher frequency of RCTs ( N = 4; Cihon et al., 2020 ; Leaf et al., 2020 ; Peterson et al., 2019 ; Scheithauer et al., 2020 ) compared to the preceding 20-year period ( N = 8, Dawson et al., 2010 ; Koenig et al., 2010 ; Landa et al., 2011 ; Leaf et al., 2017 ; Mohammadzaheri et al., 2014 , 2015 ; Reitzel et al., 2013 ; Smith et al., 2000 ), but overall no notable change in the demographics, sample size, frequencies of outcomes measured, or teaching procedures.

The increasing prevalence of ASD in children and youth across the world has placed evidence-based interventions that treat these disabilities and disorders in high demand. ABA has been at the forefront of these interventions for decades and is recommended by many governments, including in the United States and Canada, as a well-established, scientifically proven therapy (Government of Canada, 2018 ; U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 1999 ). Due to these prominent endorsements, existing and emerging interventions should be held to the same standard as established ABA interventions. That said, to our knowledge, a scoping review into all of the pertinent scientific evidence surrounding ABA has not yet been undertaken. This may result in knowledge gaps regarding this long-standing and widely used intervention and was the reasoning behind the current scoping review.

The results of the current scoping review are consistent with previous review articles and meta-analyses into the overall trend of positive effects of ABA. For example, there were overwhelming positive improvements in the majority of study records with respect to cognition, language development, social skills and communication, and adaptive behavior, along with reductions in problem behavior (Dawson & Bernier, 2013 ). In the ABA Impact section of the current review, 63%–88% of study records reported improvement across these same outcome measures, in addition to improvements in emotional and autism symptoms outcome measures (Fig. 2 ). The results of the current analysis into the demographics of these studies are also consistent with the existing literature, as the majority of the participants were male (48%) or there was a mix of females and males (45%) within multiparticipant studies (Kim et al., 2011 ; Lai et al., 2014 ; Miller et al., 2016 ). Further, the sole diagnosis of ASD was more common than mixed diagnoses, as 76% of study records recorded ASD without other diagnoses or comorbidities, again consistent with previous research into ABA (Dawson & Bernier, 2013 ). With respect to age distribution within the current review, the current results further mirror the previously published literature on EIBI, as children of a younger age tended to be predominately measured on outcomes of cognition, language skills, and social skills (Dawson & Burner, 2011 ; Reichow et al., 2012 ; Virués-Ortega, 2010 ). Children aged 6–12 years were most often measured with respect to changes in problem behavior and language skills, and those 13–18 years of age were most often measured with respect to changes in adaptive behavior and cognitive outcomes, again similar to previous research in older children and youth (Granpeesheh et al., 2009 ). As reported in other research, participants diagnosed solely with ASD were most often measured upon changes in cognition, language, and social skills and communication (Reichow et al., 2012 ). It is interesting that the mixed-diagnoses category was also commonly measured on language outcomes, but the most common outcome measure was problem behavior, at 31% of study records in the ABA Impact section.

Based on the number of study records ( N = 770, Fig. 1 ), the current findings confirm there is a wealth of scientific knowledge regarding the effect of ABA on children and youth with ASD. Many studies have been published in peer-reviewed journals, but the quality of these studies requires further consideration. The lack of non-ABA comparison groups, rigorous study design, follow-up measures or investigation into generalization of reported outcomes, as well as factors such as small sample sizes, assessment of mastery or criterion, and the use of individualized methods to attain a particular skill or behavior for individual participants, could all contribute to and potentially confound the overarching positive findings seen in ABA research studies.

The gold standard of research is typically denoted as a RCT, followed by CCT or prospective studies. As evident through this scoping review, 64% of all the study records included three or fewer participants, and the median number of participants was three, indicating methods more consistent with SCED. SCEDs are exceedingly valuable within the field of ABA as they inform practitioners of the most effective methods and improve the delivery of ABA services (Tincani & Travers, 2019 ), in addition to facilitating innovation and detecting changes upon intervention (Smith, 2012 ). Specific attention can be given to measuring individual changes over time, across differing experimental conditions, in repeated conditions, and with other individuals in order to help establish validity (Perone, 2018 ). However, this type of study design may not measure statistical significance, lacks generalizability (Tincani & Travers, 2019 ), and does not assess long-term global effects (Smith, 2012 ). Although the overall positive results seen across all outcome measures may reflect the individualized impact of ABA, they may not reflect the more global changes or potential impacts on other children or youth with ASD that undergo the same treatment. In addition, many of these study records investigated specific skills, tasks, or responses that varied based on the child (Plavnick & Ferreri, 2011 ; Romaniuk et al., 2002 ), potentially making replication and generalization of the overall positive findings to the general population of children and youth with ASD difficult (Smith, 2012 ).

Few (6%) study records compared ABA interventions to control groups or other non-ABA interventions. Study records that did investigate ABA compared to a control group (typically TAU) or other intervention more often measured statistical significance, had larger sample sizes (Kamio et al., 2015 ; Koenig et al., 2010 ), and/or used validated measurement tools such as RDLS and BSID-R (Cohen et al., 2006 ; Eikeseth et al., 2002 ; Howard et al., 2005 ; Kovshoff et al., 2011 ; Remington et al., 2007 ). It is interesting that more recent meta-analyses have trended towards fewer statistically significant improvements than what has been previously reported (Reichow et al., 2018 ; Rodgers et al., 2020 ). The comparison records in the current review that did have large enough sample sizes to warrant a statistical analysis against a comparison group often did not find significance across all values or measurement tools used (Cohen et al., 2006 ). That said, a number of study records in the current review, some of which were also investigated by Reichow and colleagues (Cohen et al., 2006 ; Howard et al., 2014 ; Magiati et al., 2007 ; Remington et al., 2007 ), had comparison groups that differed to varying degrees from the treatment groups in terms of intensity, duration, location, or qualifications of intervention administrators, potentially raising questions about comparisons made between the groups (Reichow et al., 2018 ).

The current findings are also consistent with other publications with respect to the comparison of ABA techniques, as 225 of the study records investigated the efficacy of various ABA methods compared to one another. Another review found that approximately half of the comparison articles investigated found that one method was better than the other(s), and the other half of the sample indicated that the methods were equally effective (Shabani & Lam, 2013 ). Thus, this result indicated that only half of the comparisons analyzed truly contributed to the best practices of ABA (Shabani & Lam, 2013 ). In the current review, this was showcased through cognitive and language outcome measures, which found that only 38% and 37% of the comparison records, respectively, reported greater improvement with one method over the other. These investigations, often SCED, are undoubtedly important within the ABA field of research and to further analyze the effectiveness of one technique or method over another in order to optimize intervention strategies, particularly if rigorously designed (Lobo et al., 2017 ; Smith, 2012 ), or designed with an effort to assess and understand social validity (Snodgrass et al., 2021 ), but do not provide enough information on the overall effectiveness of ABA as a whole on the larger population of children and youth with ASD (Shabani & Lam, 2013 ).

Approximately 40% of the study records measured success in the given treatment through the assessment or attainment of some level of mastery or criterion for the desired skill or behavior (Grannan & Rehfeldt, 2012 ; Grow et al., 2011 ; Toussaint et al., 2016 ). Because study methods frequently continue until mastery or criterion in order to solidify behaviors and promote better maintenance (Luiselli et al., 2008 ; McDougale et al., 2020 ), positive improvements occur organically as subjects attain these desired measures. However, this may not accurately indicate the ability of a participant to maintain such a skill, particularly if the mastery criterion is low (McDougale et al., 2020 ; Richling et al., 2019 ). In some instances, criterion parameters and/or experimental procedures were altered in order to reach the desired measure (Charlop et al., 1985 ; Valentino et al., 2015 ). Thus, discretion should be taken when evaluating outcomes reliant on the mastery or extinction of skills or behaviors (McDougale et al., 2020 ). In addition, only 41% of the records conducted some form of investigation into follow-up or maintenance of the given outcome measure(s). This may not be reflective of the long-term effects of the overall positive outcomes. Likewise, generalization was only investigated in 31% of the study records, again prompting the question of whether or not these task- or behavior-specific improvements resulted in overall changes in the child’s skills, function, or behaviors. Further research may be required to assess retained changes rather than changes upon intervention (Bishop-Fitzpatrick et al., 2013 ; Smith, 2012 ).

In summary, the above results can be visualized through a filter of the study records (Fig. 5 ). Out of the 770 (100%) study records that were reviewed in depth, most showed positive results. When study records that used a method with a potential bias for positive results—such as those that compared one ABA treatment to another or assessed the mastery or criterion of a skill or behavior—were excluded, 361 (47%) study records remained. Furthermore, when study records that did not compare to a control or other intervention were excluded, 32 (4%) of the study records remained. These results may indicate gaps in the current ABA research approach, further supporting previous research about the standard of existing ABA literature (Reichow et al., 2018 ; Smith, 2012 ). These findings also support recommendations from Smith ( 2012 ), suggesting that RCTs comparing ABA to other interventions may be instrumental in evaluating both individual and global changes, as well as revising existing intervention models.

Limitations of the Current Review

The limitations of the current scoping review are: (1) the broadness of the outcome measures investigated; (2) the potential confounding measure of generalization independently versus within a standardized scale; (3) the definition of ABA itself versus its many treatment derivatives; and (4) the continual development of the diagnostic tools used to assess ASD. Each of these will be described in turn below.

Many of the study records investigated specific tasks, responses, or skills. Thus, improvements in areas such as cognition may be misleading, because both improvements on specific tasks and improvements on full-scale cognitive assessments were scored as improvements in the cognitive outcome category (Grow et al., 2011 ; Howard et al., 2005 ). In addition, some of the outcome measures had considerable overlap in definitions, such as the cognition, language, social/communication, and adaptive behavior categories, thus potentially resulting in the coding of multiple outcome measures for a similar task. For example, receptive labeling tasks were coded under both cognitive and language outcome measures (Grow et al., 2011 ).

The infrequent use of generalization seen in the Between-Groups Comparison section could be a result of the greater use of validated tools in this section of records (Cohen et al., 2006 ; Remington et al., 2007 ). Measurement tools such as VABS incorporate measures of generalization into the scale, and though not often specified as an independent measure of generalization, multiple environmental locations for the interventions (e.g., home and school) or multiple individuals interacting with the participants may have been measured.

Given the length of time that ABA has been utilized in treating children with ASD, and its having become the basis for many intervention techniques, it can be difficult to discern whether a particular treatment follows all of the principles of ABA and to what extent. This was seen in a recent review investigating all available interventions for children and youth with ASD (Whitehouse et al., 2020 ). It may be difficult for families, governments, and policy makers to evaluate available evidence appropriately (Whitehouse et al., 2020 ). For example, PECS was developed utilizing ABA principles and is commonly used in conjunction with ABA therapy, but it is also used throughout speech and language therapy, education systems that are not solely ABA, and simply as a communication-based intervention (Howlin et al., 2007 ; Lerna et al., 2012 ; Pasco & Tohill, 2011 ). Even within the ABA field there are conflicting definitions of ABA between the research community and public sector (Schreibman et al., 2015 ), adding another layer of complexity for policy makers when it comes to deciding whether to fund specific programs, specific types of professionals, or a combination of both. For the same reason, there may be some treatments, methods or techniques that have not been included within this scoping review. Further, although the use of “applied behavior analysis” as a search term may not have captured the full extent of behavioral research, its inclusion as both a MeSH term and keyword will have returned any records indexed by the reviewed databases as “applied behavior analysis,” satisfying the initial search criteria for the current scoping review.

As the understood spectrum of ASD and the diagnostic tools for ASD have changed drastically over the decades in which the investigated articles were published, the represented population may have also changed throughout the years, potentially influencing the acceptability of study findings (Reichow et al., 2018 ). Furthermore, the initial objective for this scoping review included searching across all NDD/D, not just ASD. Thus, the ASD MeSH term of “autistic disorder and autism spectrum disorder” may have potentially resulted in missed studies that included only AS or PDD-NOS diagnoses. That said, as this review was intended to find the scope of the research surrounding the impact of ABA on children and youth with ASD over a time frame of 23 years and across all available research, the authors believe all of the applicable scope was covered within reason.

Recommendations for Future Research

Recommendations for the further advancement in the field of ABA interventions for children and youth with ASD often include increasing the duration of the study, investigating comparisons to other non-ABA interventions, conducting follow-up studies for adults who participated in ABA interventions as children, and increasing the overall sample sizes. There has been an ongoing recommendation for larger scale studies over the last 20 years with respect to children and youth with ASD (Eldevik et al., 2009 ; Reichow et al., 2018 ; Smith, 2012 ), as well as for long-term outcomes for adults with ASD (Bishop-Fitzpatrick et al., 2013 ; Rodgers et al., 2020 ). With respect to EIBI in particular, there is increasing importance for large-scale studies comparing the effectiveness of EIBI against other non-ABA interventions, including developmental social pragmatic (DSP) interventions (Rodgers et al., 2020 ), which was also evident in the current review, as most comparison records that measured the effectiveness of EIBI compared their results to those of TAU or eclectic treatment approaches (90%; 9 out of 10 comparison records). Overall, although there are merits to both SCEDs and larger-scale group study designs (Lobo et al., 2017 ; Smith, 2012 ) there is a greater need for the latter when evaluating ABA. Our findings are in line with the perspective that ABA literature already has a wealth of SCEDs and is overdue for large scale studies such as RCTs to assess existing practices and, perhaps more importantly, to reevaluate and revise evolving ABA practices in the rapidly developing field of intervention for ASD (Smith, 2012 ).

An important note in terms of finding appropriate and effective interventions in the treatment for ASD, which is not limited to ABA, is the establishment of standards of care (SoC). Unfortunately, even though there is a wealth of knowledge regarding the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of ASD, there is still no clear SoC for the treatment of ASD (Department of Defense, 2019 , 2020 ). In general, outcome measures should indicate a true measure of benefit to the child and their family, in addition to providing relevance within practice and the ability to replicate across research (Rodgers et al., 2020 ). Recent studies have questioned outcome measures such as cognition and adaptive behaviors when evaluating ASD treatments, and a call for standardized outcome measures that are truly reflective of the benefit for the child and family is beginning to grow (Rodgers et al., 2020 ). Our recommendation is for more rigorous large-scale prospective comparison studies between ABA and emerging interventions, such as DSP interventions, to be conducted in order to develop gold standard treatment options with a defined SoC for children and families with ASD.

The results of the between-groups comparisons in this scoping review indicated that 23 comparison records compared intensive ABA (20–40 hr of intervention per week) to control or other interventions. Existing literature indicates that 30–40 intervention hours per week for children under the age of 6 results in greater improvements in cognition, language development, social skills, and more (Kovshoff et al., 2011 ; Reed et al., 2007b ). That said, more recent large-scale analyses on children who received 12 months of ABA services indicated that increased intensity does not necessarily predict better outcomes (Department of Defense, 2020 ). In a meta-analysis completed by Rodgers et al. ( 2020 ), autism symptoms showed no statistically significant improvements with higher intensity EIBI treatments as opposed to lower intensity EIBI treatments. It was also found that no one age group demonstrated improvement when correlated with the number of hours of rendered ABA services (Department of Defense, 2020 ). This evidence suggests there may be insufficient recent research justifying the need for high-intensity interventions, indicating that more research studies need to be conducted in the field of ABA in terms of assessing ABA impact with different or lower intensity interventions.

Most of the current literature surrounding ABA-based interventions lacks investigations into the QoL of children with ASD and instead focuses on aberrant behaviors (Reichow et al., 2018 ; Whitehouse et al., 2020 ). A recent meta-analysis found that, upon analyzing five articles of higher scientific credence, none conducted investigations into the changes with respect to QoL for the children or parents (Reichow et al., 2018 ). The present scoping review likewise found no occurrences of subject QoL measures in the sample analyzed. Overall changes in QoL for children living with ASD is of the utmost importance, as QoL is “individuals’ perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns” (WHO, 1997 , p. 1). The continued lack of research into long-term effectiveness of ABA treatments is an ongoing concern and should be a focus of future research to help measure QoL (Whitehouse et al., 2020 ) and also to investigate any possible adverse effects (Rodgers et al., 2020 ). For example, recent literature investigating adults with ASD who participated in ABA treatments when they were young has shown increases in incidences of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); this is an emerging field of research in adults with ASD and should be further investigated through long-term studies (Kupferstein, 2018 ).

Future research into the cost-effectiveness of ABA-based interventions compared to existing and emerging interventions should be conducted, as only a few articles within the current review discussed the cost effectiveness of the ABA interventions in use (Farrell et al., 2005 ; Kamio et al., 2015 ; Magiati et al., 2007 ; Park et al., 2020 ). In the few incidences where cost-effectiveness was measured, the results varied. For example, one study found that higher ABA program cost was associated with lesser improvements in language development (Kamio et al., 2015 ), one reported higher costs for the Lovaas/ABA model program (Farrell et al., 2005 ), one found little difference in cost between nursery and ABA interventions (Magiati et al., 2007 ), whereas Park et al. ( 2020 ) found lower costs for their specific ABA model (Korean Advancement of Behavior Analysis [KAVBA]) children’s center as compared to other Comprehensive Application of Behavioral Analysis to Schooling (CABAS) centers. In conclusion, these long-term and intensive interventions should be further investigated with respect to their cost-effectiveness and overall improvements in QoL (Rodgers et al., 2020 ; Whitehouse et al., 2020 ).

As ever in the scientific process, interventions and treatments need consistent and replicative investigations under stringent protocols to ensure the continued efficacy and generalizability of a given intervention. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ( 1999 ), ABA is the gold standard treatment for ASD, and is funded almost exclusively across North America. The current scoping review spanning 770 study records showed positive and beneficial effects of ABA for children with ASD across seven outcome measures. However, only 32 (4%) assessed ABA impact, had a comparison group, and did not rely on mastery of specific skills to mark improvement.

Without ongoing research and the development of a SoC, governments and policy makers will not have the most up-to-date information that reflects ABA-based and other interventions in terms of the ever-changing landscape of diagnoses, modern technological advancements, changes within the intervention implementation, and measurement tools of treatment efficacy. One such example is the measure of subject QoL, which, as made evident by this scoping review, was not measured in any study record included, but is of utmost importance to truly indicate the overall long-term impact of ABA. Moreover, as the children and youth who participated in ABA-based and other interventions become adults, the long-lasting effects of these interventions should be investigated more thoroughly.

Therefore, large longitudinal prospective studies comparing ABA-based and different interventions treating children and youth with ASD are needed. As ABA is historically based on an operant conditioning approach to treatment whereas many emerging interventions typically use a social pragmatic approach (Whitehouse et al., 2020 ), continued research comparing these two differing ideologies is particularly important, as ABA is currently the bar to which other interventions are held at the governmental level. With a holistic view of all of the scientific evidence behind ABA, governments will be able to more accurately compare any existing and emerging interventions to the well-established norm of ABA. Until a SoC is established, all interventions for children and youth with ASD must be held to the existing standard set by ABA to be considered effective.

Data Availability

Not applicable.

Code Availability

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Acknowledgements

This scoping review would not be possible without the help of the people who took the time to move this project forward. We thank Jonathan Agyeman for his assistance in the data analysis, synthesis, and creation of tables and figures following the search update and subsequent revisions. For his detailed refinements during the final stage of our submission, we thank our copy editor, Henry Sporn. We also thank Jake Choi, Sam Brimacombe, Ciara McDaniel, Elizabeth Steczko, and Kristyn Jorgenson for their hard work and contributions with the initial search phase, publication screening, and journal extractions. Likewise, thank you to Alesia DiCicco, and Zachary Betts for their contributions to journal extractions. For their contributions in cleaning publication information for referencing, a special thank you to Sophia Shalchy-Tabrizi, Jodiline Lacsamana, Ghazaleh Bazazan Nowghani, and finally Madeleine Teasell, who also assisted with extractions and numerous revisions throughout the project. We would also thank Alison Davidson and Suk Chan Oh with their help in the initial search and screening; we further thank Alison for her keen eye in proofreading, and Kelley Lloyd-Jones for her perspective as a Behavior Consultant. Last but not least, we give a heartfelt thank-you to Dr. Patrick Myers for taking the time to review our work. His expert feedback was invaluable in completing this vast project.

Research was supported by Club Aviva Recreation Ltd.

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University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Mojgan Gitimoghaddam

Club Aviva Recreation Ltd., Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada

Natalia Chichkine, Laura McArthur, Sarabjit S. Sangha & Vivien Symington

University of Melbourne Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, Melbourne, Australia

Sarabjit S. Sangha

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Mojgan Gitimoghaddam, MD, PhD(c), led and designed the project, wrote and reviewed the article; Natalia Chichkine, BSc, collected data, extracted and coded data, and wrote and reviewed the article; Laura McArthur, BSc, collected data, extracted and coded data, and wrote and reviewed the article; Sarabjit S. Sangha, MSc, coded data, contributed data or analysis tools, assisted with analysis, and wrote and reviewed the article; and Vivien Symington, BA/BPHE, conceived and designed the analysis, extracted and coded data, and wrote and reviewed the article.

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Gitimoghaddam, M., Chichkine, N., McArthur, L. et al. Applied Behavior Analysis in Children and Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Scoping Review. Perspect Behav Sci 45 , 521–557 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-022-00338-x

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Accepted : 21 April 2022

Published : 18 May 2022

Issue Date : September 2022

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-022-00338-x

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