Controversial therapies for autism and intellectual disabilities: fad, fashion, and science in professional practice

This book brings together leading practitioners to shed light on controversies surrounding the questions about what approaches really help those with autism and other intellectual disabilities and what approaches represent waste of time effort and resources. It is divided into 6 parts covering: general issues, such as where do fads come from and the nature of empirically validated interventions; historical, cultural and psychological issues including - the delusion of full inclusion and the gullibility of service providers; field specific issues such as fads in special education and speech and language pathology; disorder and symptom specific issues; intervention specific issues including - sensory integration therapy, nonaversive treatment, positive behaviour support, facilitated communication, gentle teaching, relationship based therapies, gluten free casein free diet; ethical, legal and political concerns.