Fall 2002

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CONTENTS Fall 2002

Editorial ........................................................ 2Kids and experiments: Do they mix?

What Causes Autism? ................................... 3A perspective from the National Institutes ofHealth.

What’s New in Research ................................ 4Treating and addressing stereotypy.

Excellence in Special Eductaion (cont) ........... 5A new era for children.

Help Desk ....................................................... 6It’s not early intervention anymore. Will ABAwork?

Brain Function ............................................... 7Different parts do different jobs.

Excellence in Special EducationAdapted from an article written byMichael J, Opuda, PhD, SpecialEducation Consultant; originallyappearing in the MADSEC Newsletter,the newsletter of the Maine Admin-istrators of Services for Children withDisabilities, Fall, 2002-03. Used withpermission.

“Move America’s special education systemfrom a culture of compliance [with thelaw], to a culture of accountability forresults.” This was the charge PresidentGeorge W. Bush made to the President’sCommission on Excellence in SpecialEducation on October 2, 2001. On July1, 2002, the Commission issued its longawaited report, one that will frame theCongressional debate on the re-authorization of the Individuals withDisabilities Education Act (IDEA).

“The ultimate test of the value ofspecial education is that, onceidentified, children [withdisabilities] close the gap withtheir peers. That’s whataccountability for results is allabout,” according to the report.

The Commission issued nine majorfindings:

1. The current special education systemoften places process above results, andbureaucratic compliance above studentachievement, excellence, and outcomes.

2. The current system uses anantiquated model that waits for a childto fail, instead of a model based onprevention and intervention.

3. Children placed in special educationare general education children first.General education and specialeducation share responsibilities forchildren with disabilities.

4. When a child fails to make progressin special education, parents have

inadequate options and littlerecourse.

5. The culture of compliance has oftendeveloped from the pressures oflitigation, diverting much energy ofthe public schools’ first mission:educating every child.

6. Many of the current methods ofidentifying children with disabilitieslack validity. As a result, thousands ofchildren are misidentified every year,while many others are not identifiedearly enough or at all.

7. Children with disabilities require

Craig, son of ASAT supportersRon and Kathy Cavallo

“The ultimate test of the value ofspecial education is that, onceidentified, children [withdisabilities] close the gap with theirpeers. That’s what accountability forresults is all about.” continued on page 5

ASAT BOARD OF DIRECTORS

John LeMieux, MSPresident

Catherine Maurice, PhDVice President

Lora Perry, MSTreasurer

John Jacobson, PhD, BCBASecretary

Ira Cohen, PhDChair, Advisory Board

Joseph Forgione, MBA

Sigrid Glenn, PhD, BCBA

Michele Kule-Korgood, Esq

Joyce Rosenfeld, MD

Patricia J. Krantz, PhD

Bridget Taylor, PsyD, BCBA

STAFFBetsy Welch

Executive Director

ASSOCIATION FOR SCIENCE IN AUTISM TREATMENT

P.O. Box 7468Portland, Maine 0412-7468

Phone: 207-253-6008E-mail: info@asatonline.org

www.ASATonline.org

Article submissions and letters to ASAT shouldbe sent to the above address. Submissionsshould follow the guidelines posted on ASAT’swebsite and include the writer’s full name, ad-dress, home and work telephone numbers. Sub-missions may be edited for clarity or space. Toorder back issues, conference tapes or confer-ence books, call ASAT at 207-253-6008.

Articles in Science in Autism Treatment are theauthors’ intellectual property. They may be cop-ied and disseminated, provided that a) they arereprinted in their entirety; b) correct attribu-tion (author name and ASAT affiliation) is cited;and c) written permission is obtained fromASAT.

All Rights Reserved�Association for Science in Autism Treatment.The contents of this newsletter cannot be repro-duced without permission from the Associa-tion for Science in Autism Treatment.

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ASATProviding Accurate, Science-Based Information � Promoting Access To Effective Treatment

ASAT MISSION STATEMENTTHE ASSOCIATION FOR SCIENCE IN AUTISM TREATMENT WILL:

Disseminate accurate, scientifically sound information about autism andtreatments for autism; andImprove access to effective, science-based treatments for all people with autism,regardless of age, severity of condition, income, or place of residence.

WE WILL FULFILL OUR MISSION BY:Educating professionals and the public about state-of-the-art, validtreatments for people with autism;Supporting certification, to ensure all individuals with autism receive treat-ment from practitioners who have met minimum standards of competency;Forming interactive, supportive partnerships with universities to developaccredited educational programs for autism practitioners, andImproving standards of care for people with autism.

VALUES STATEMENTASAT is committed to science as the most objective, time-tested and reliableapproach to discerning between safe, effective autism treatments, and thosethat are harmful or ineffective. ASAT supports all scientifically sound researchon the prevention, treatment and cure of autism, as well as all treatments forautism that are shown to be effective through solid scientific research, regard-less of discipline or domain.

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EDITORIALKids and Experiments: Do They Mix?

Readers of Science in Autism Treatment frequently contact us for our positionson interventions for autism. As the parent of two children with autism myself, Iknow how devoted we are to never giving up the search for something that willwork for our children that we might have overlooked.

One of ASAT’s goals is to empower parents and professionals with the discernmentskills necessary to make sound choices for our children. If an intervention is notproven to be effective, it is, at best, experimental. There is nothing inherentlywrong with experiments—indeed, the scientific method is based upon positing atheory, and then objectively running experiments to test the theory.

The problem with many experiments in autism treatment is that the experimentalstatus of the intervention is not disclosed to the consumer. The consumer is giventhe impression that the intervention has been validated as effective, when it hasnot. Worse, in some cases the intervention has been discredited. And remember—when an intervention has not been proven to be effective, it also has not beenproven to be harmless. I remember vividly my indignation over a case study inResearch class about “tracking” students in education. Tracking was a practice ofdetermining which children were likely to be college-bound or vocation-boundas adults, and programming a young child’s multi-year education accordingly.Twenty years of research finally concluded tracking was bad for students. Twentyyears! An entire generation of children was “tracked” without their consent, andwith varying degrees of harm or denied opportunity.

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ADVISORYBOARD

Ira Cohen, PhD - Chair

Allan Barclay, PhD

Stephen Barrett, MD

F.J. Barrera, PhD, BCBA

Paul Chance, PhD

Martha Bridge Denckla, MD

Curtis Deutsch, PhD

Maureen Durkin, PhD

Deborah Fein, PhD

Susan Folstein, MD

Eric Fombonne, MD

Richard Foxx, PhD, BCBA

Gine Green, PhD

Jeanette Holden, PhD

Ronald Kallen, MD

Richard Landau, PhD

Alan Leslie, PhD

Bennett Leventhal, MD

Johnny L. Matson, PhD

Joyce E. Mauk, MD

William McMahon, MD

James Mulick, PhD

George Niemann, PhD

John Pomeroy, MD

Stephen Porges, PhD

Tristram Smith, PhD

Robert Sprague, PhD

Arthur Toga, MD

Paul Touchette, PhD

Roberto Tuchman, MD

Paul Yellin, MD

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ASAT gets numerous inquiriesregarding diet therapies, such asgluten- and casein-free diets. A recentinquiry regarded the role of enzymesin our children. I personally knowvery little about enzymes or foodallergies, but rely instead upon thequalified Board and Advisory Boardmembers ASAT has assembled forguidance in such matters. I am notaware of any body of peer reviewedliterature that concludes there is a linkbetween enzymes or food allergies andchildren with autism. However, I amwell aware of numerous theoriesposited by parents and professionalsthat one exists. I am also aware ofnumerous purportedly “scientific”studies concluding that there is such alink, but on closer examination these“studies” are really pseudo-scientific(junk science) in nature.

At the same time, however, we needto remember that our children are asphysiologically complex as any otherchild. Children with autism are

certainly vulnerable to the samekinds of gastrointestinal andallergy problems any other childmight have, and best practices inthe treatment of such problems areas right for children with autismas they are for any other kids. Suchtreatments just don’t have anythingto do with autism.

My personal risk tolerance for highlyexperimental interventions on behalf ofmy sons is very low. This, combined withmy lack of time or expertise to properlysupervise an experiment, means it’sunlikely that I will undertake one.

The question of subjecting our childrento experimental interventions is anethical dilemma, one that imposesenormous responsibility upon us. Weneed to make difficult decisions on behalfof our children, always attentive to theethical considerations concerning theirhealth, their rights, and their inabilityto give consent.

—Lora Perry, MS Editor

What Causes Autism?The National Institutes of Health has been funding several research projects to helpidentify the causes of autism, in hopes of someday developing better treatment forand prevention of the disorder. The following is reprinted from the website of theNational Institutes of Health, at http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/autism.cfm.

It is generally accepted that autism is caused by abnormalities in brain structures orfunctions. Using a variety of new research tools to study human and animal braingrowth, scientists are discovering more about normal development and how abnor-malities occur.

The brain of a fetus develops throughout pregnancy. Starting out with a few cells,the cells grow and divide until the brain contains billions of specialized cells, calledneurons. Research sponsored by NIMH and other components at the National Insti-tutes of Health is playing a key role in showing how cells find their way to a specificarea of the brain and take on special functions. Once in place, each neuron sends outlong fibers that connect with other neurons. In this way, lines of communication areestablished between various areas of the brain, and between the brain and the rest ofthe body. As each neuron receives a signal, it releases chemicals called neurotransmit-ters, which pass the signal to the next neuron. By birth, the brain has evolved into acomplex organ with several distinct regions and subregions, each with a precise set offunctions and responsibilities.

But brain development does not stop at birth. The brain continues to change duringthe first few years of life, as new neurotransmitters become activated and additionallines of communication are established. Neural networks are forming and creating afoundation for processing language, emotions, and thought.

continued on back cover

Editorial, continued from page 2

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What’s New in Research?Bridget Taylor, PsyD, BCBA

ASAT Board Member

Many children with autism engagein repetitive behavior that doesnot appear to be a function ofsocial consequence (e.g., socialattention, or escape from taskdemands). This behavior is typicallyreferred to as stereotypy or auto-matically reinforced behavior.Stereotypy is usually maintained bythe reinforcing properties of thebehavior itself; for example, a childmay spin the wheels of a truckbecause it is visually appealing.Common examples of stereotypy arehand flapping, turning in circles,vocalizing portions of video ortelevision scripts, eating non-edibles, ripping or shredding items,or making vocal noises. Stereotypycan be challenging to treat due toboth its persistence, and itstendency to occur in the absenceof adult supervision. The goodnews, however, is thatinterventions based upon behavioranalysis offer viable treatmentoptions to address this behavior.Outlined below are several recentevaluations of various behavioralinterventions aimed at thereduction of stereotypy.

Study: Ringdahl, JE, Andelman, AS,Kitsukawa, K, Winborn, LC,Barretto, A, Wacher, DP (2002).Evaluation and treatment of covertstereotypy. Behavioral Interventions,17: 43-49.

Summary: In this study, theexperi-menters determined thatthe hand flapping of a child withautism occurred in the absence ofsocial consequences, and whenthe child was alone. Twotreatment procedures wereinvestigated to reduce thebehavior. One procedure providedregularly scheduled verbalreminders to refrain from handflapping, while the secondprocedure employed a DifferentialReinforcement of Other behavior

(DRO) intervention. Inthe treatment conditionutilizing verbalreminders, a stop signpaired with an adultreference to the signprovided a verbalreminder to stopflapping. Theexperimenters foundthat although hand flapping wasreduced in the presence of theadult’s verbal reminder, handflapping increased when the adultleft the room, even when the adultreturned intermittently to providereminders to stop.

The DRO procedure involvedpresenting a preferred activitycontingent upon not engaging inhand flapping for set intervals oftime. During these sessions, theadult stated the contingency (e.g.,“Don’t flap your hands and you canearn [the preferred toy]”), andthen left the room. Once the timeinterval was over, the child wasprovided with the preferred toy.Initially, the child was onlyrequired to refrain from handflapping for ten seconds; theinterval was increasedprogressively to ten minutes. TheDRO procedure proved moreeffective in maintaining low ratesof hand flapping when the childwas alone.

Conclusion: For some children,verbal reminders may not besufficient to keep stereotypicbehavior at low rates when adultsare not present. A morecomprehensive treatment may bewarranted, such as reinforcing theabsence of the response with ahighly preferred stimulus item.

Study: Britton, LN, Carr, JE,Landaburu, HJ, Romick, KS (2002).The efficacy of noncontingentreinforcement as treatment forautomatically reinforced stereotypy.Behavioral Interventions. 17: 93-103.

Summary: In this study, therepetitive responses of headrocking, face rubbing, and otherhand movements were found to bemaintained by sensoryconsequences, and to continueindependent of socialconsequences. The experimentersidentified activities that theybelieved competed with thesensory consequences of theresponses, such as neck massagesas a competing activity to headrocking. Preference assessmentswere conducted to identifyactivities and items that theindividual might engage with as analternative to the stereotypicbehavior. These preferred stimulusitems or activities were then madefreely available to determine if theparticipants would choose theseactivities voluntarily, rather thanengage in the repetitive behavior.For all three individuals, theexperimenters found thatrepetitive behavior remained athigh levels despite the availabilityof preferred items or activities.However, once the individualswere prompted to engage with thestimulus items (e.g., manuallyguided to play with toys),stereotypy decreased.

Conclusion: Simple access to pre-ferred leisure items may not be asufficient deterrent to stereo-

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typic behavior. Individuals may needto be prompted to engage withthese materials in order for the ma-terials to compete with the sensoryconsequences of stereotypy.

Study: Mancina, C., Tankersley,Kamps, D, Kravits, T, Parrett, J(2000). Brief Report: Reduction of in-appropriate vocalizations for a child withautism using a self-management treatmentprogram. Journal of Autism and De-velopmental Disorders, 30, 599-606.

Summary: In this study, the repeti-tive vocalizations of a twelve-year-old girl with autism were reducedby teaching her to monitor her ownbehavior. The child was first taughtto discriminate quiet from noisy be-havior when it was modeled by anadult, and was then taught to iden-tify when she displayed noisy behav-ior. A watch with an audible timerwas used to signal intervals for theyoungster to record if she wasnoisy or quiet during the desig-nated interval. She was then taughtto reinforce herself for a desig-nated number of quiet intervals.The procedure was subsequentlyimplemented in her public schoolclassroom by her teacher. The self-management procedure resulted ina decrease in inappropriate vocal-izations, but not in other stereo-typic responses that the child dis-played. In addition, even thoughthe behavior decreased, the childcontinued to require adult promptsto attend to the system of self-monitoring.

Conclusions: Some children may beable to learn to make accuratediscriminations of their ownbehavior in order to monitor andself-manage their rates ofstereotypic responses. Even ifchildren are able to make accuratediscriminations, however, they mayrequire additional prompts fromadults to use the self-managementsystem. Self-management may be aviable alter-native for youngsterswho possess certain prerequisiteskills (e.g., making accuratediscriminations), and who attendpublic school classrooms whereteachers are readily available toprovide the necessary prompts toattend to and use the self-management system.

What’s New in Research?, continued from page 4

highly qualifiedteachers.

8. The current systemdoes not alwaysembrace or implemente v i d e n c e - b a s e dpractices.

9. The focus on com-pliance and bureaucraticimperatives in the current system,instead of aca-demic achievementand social outcomes, fails too manychildren with disabilities.

In response to these findings, theCommission concluded “we must insiston high academic standards andexcellence, press for accountability forresults at all levels, ensure yearlyprogress, empower and trust parents,support and enhance teacher quality,and encourage educational reformsbased upon scientifically rigorousresearch. In addition, we must...implement scientifically basedinstructional practices.”

The Commission also made three broadrecommendations, which form thefoundation of their report:

1. Focus on results—not onprocess.2. Embrace a model of prevention,not a model of failure.3 . Consider children with disabilities asgeneral education children first.

While simply stated, theserecommendations are, upon analysis,potentially complex. For example, willschools be “held harmless” for proceduralviolations when the school candemonstrate positive results for a child?How will schools distinguishbetween the student who is “truly

Large portions of the text in this article arereproduced verbatim from the report A NewEra: Revitalizing Special Education forChildren and Their Families. Other portionshave been abridged or re-worded for length.

disabled,” and the student whojust needs a little more time tolearn? What safeguards are neededto ensure scientifically basedmethods are utilized, rather thaninterventions founded uponpseudo-science, testimonials,hopes, beliefs and wishes? How andat what rate will general andspecial educators be provided withthe training and support theyneed to work with students withdisabilities? How will specialeducation integrate with thebroader issues of the child’s home,community and life-long needs?

These and many other questions willsurface in the coming months asCongress, the Bush Administration,advocates and educational professionalswork to amend the Individuals withDisabilities Education Act.

The full 82 page report is availableat http://www.ed.gov/inits/commissionsboards/whspecialeducation/reports.html.

Excellence, continued from page 1

Jason, son of ASAT board memberLora Perry, and her husband Steve

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Bobby Newman, PhD, BCBA

Question: I have a 13 year old son,and I am late-comer to the fieldof ABA. Almost everything I readis about preschoolers and recov-ery. Can ABA help my son?

Answer: Yes! ABA can certainlyhelp your son to learn new skills,and to manage behavior that is in-terfering with his ability to par-take in whatever life has to offer.Now, let’s expand a bit. ABA is notlimited in its effectiveness to onlyautism spectrum disorders (ASDs),nor to any specific age group.Many ABA professionals do notwork with individuals diagnosedwith autism spectrum disorders atall, or any other form of develop-mental disability. ABA profession-als work in business and industry,sports, education (typical or spe-cial), and other fields. The factthat ABA works so well withpeople diagnosed with ASDs andcan achieve such amazing gains is,in part, an historical accident.1

As I prepared to answer your ques-tion, I found myself thinking backto a symposium in which I took partat the 2001 ABA convention inNew Orleans. ASAT past-presidentCatherine Maurice was the discus-sant, and she reminded us (I’mparaphrasing here) that while wemust celebrate, popularize, andtestify to the reality of recoveryfrom autism, we must be no lessenthusiastic describing how ABAcan help individuals, regardless ofage, to make amazing achieve-ments. A student who learns totie his shoes, or to achieve anotherstep towards independence, mustbe held in no less regard and cel-ebrated no less enthusiasticallythan the child who recovers. Bothindividuals are testaments to thepower of this science, and to thehumanistic ends to which it is di-rected. In my own books of case

studies2 , many of the proceduresdescribed were used to help teen-age and adult clients to learngreater independence, or to over-come crippling or physically dan-gerous rituals and behavior. Manyof the people who taught me aboutABA had never worked with anyoneunder 15 in their lives. As Skinneralways reminded us, the laws of be-havior are universal (so far). We canapply our science equally, regard-less of the age or the behavior ofthe individual.

Goals and teaching techniqueswill differ, depending upon theskills that need to be taught, andupon the behaviors interferingwith independent functioning.

—Which brings us to more aboutABA most people don’t realize:

1. ABA is not discrete trial teach-ing (DTT).2. ABA is not a “related service.”

“How many hours of ABA is he get-ting?” is a nonsensical question.ABA is the applied science of humanbehavior, and more generally, a wayof looking at behavior, and a litera-ture of proven techniques that arein effect 24 hours a day. That’s notto say that you are providing inten-sive programming 24 hours a day,but rather that you are carrying outgeneral behavior managementstrategies, setting up and taking ad-vantage of teaching and generali-zation opportunities, performingfunctional analyses of behavior,and shaping and chaining new skillswhenever possible.

Find a well-trained Board CertifiedBehavior Analyst (BCBA)3 and forge

HELP DESK

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ahead with no less enthusiasmthan you would if your child werein Early Intervention.�

Buckaroo Banzai!One of the charges that I have fre-quently heard leveled against ABA isthat it takes away an individual’s free-dom. Somehow, so the story goes, ABAhas the ability to remove an individual’sautonomy and individuality. Consis-tent with a line of argument BF Skin-ner and Kenneth MacCorquodalemade decades ago, I take the oppositeview: ABA increases autonomy. How canan individual truly be free if he is un-able to engage in a particular behav-ior? When I have the ability to engagein a specified behavior, then I have achoice. If I do not have the ability, I donot have the choice.

A mini case study: I was working week-ends with an adult diagnosed with au-tism. He enjoyed movies, but did nothave the ability to operate the televi-sion or VCR, nor did he know how toselect the videos he wished to watch.In other words, he did not have the free-dom to make these choices as othersdo. We used a very basic shaping andforward chaining model, following atask analysis I created to help the indi-vidual learn to select a tape, and tooperate the television and VCR. As isalmost always the case, the task analy-sis had to be rewritten a few times,since particular steps proved to be toodifficult, and needed to be broken downfurther. (Remember, the student is al-ways right.)

After learning, Joe was able to indepen-dently engage in this very common andvery appropriate leisure skill. Luckily,he also had excellent taste in movies.One of his favorites was also one of myall-time favorites, The Adventures of Bucka-roo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension. Afew times when I came to the house, hegreeted me with an enthusiastic“Buckaroo Banzai!” His parents foundthis endlessly amusing, and began torefer to me as the fictional scientist/rock star/social reformer/adventurer.That’s ok, I’ve been called a lot worse,and we could all choose much worserole models than Buckaroo.—BN

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Student: Joe Smith

Task: Television / VCR Operation

Special Notes: The unit in Joe’s room is a TV/VCRcombination unit. It has one power supply, turns onautomatically when a tape is inserted, plays automaticallywhen a tape is inserted, and automatically rewinds atthe end of a tape. If using this task analysis with otherequipment, alterations are required.

Use a forward chain.

1. Select a tape from the cabinet.1

2 . Remove desired tape from sleeve.3 . Orient tape so that plastic flap faces VCR tape slot.2

4. Insert tape (this will automatically turn the machineon and it will start playing the movie automatically).5 . Sit down and watch movie.6. At the end of the movie, the tape will automaticallyrewind. Wait until “stop” is seen on the screen (this willindicate that tape has rewound completely).7. Press the “stop/eject” button.8 . Place the tape back in sleeve.9. Replace the tape on shelf.10. Press the “power” button on the TV to shut the TV/VCR off.

Note: I have written this for a “perfect world”scenario. For the time being, make sure each step iscompleted so that the system will work each time. AsJoe’s skills with the TV/VCR become reliable, we willexpand the chain to help Joe solve problems such as:1. Deliberately do not rewind a tape so we can teachJoe how to use the “rewind” button.2. Be sure a tape is already in the machine, so we canteach Joe it must be ejected before the new tape canbe inserted.3. Leave the power plug unplugged so that it must beplugged in before the system will work.4. Give Joe the opportunity to use TVs and VCRs thatare not one unit, so he can master a more complextask analysis.5. Teach Joe to use pause, fast forward and rewind.

–BN

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· The hippocampus makes itpossible to recall recent experienceand new information

· The amygdala directs ouremotional responses

· The frontal lobes of the cerebrumallow us to solve problems, planahead, understand the behaviorof others, and restrain ourimpulses

DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BRAIN HAVEDIFFERENT FUNCTIONS

· The parietal areas controlhearing, speech, and language

· The cerebellum regulates balance,body movements, coordination,and the muscles used in speaking

· The corpus callossum passesinformation from one side of thebrain to the other

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What Causes Autism? continued from page 3

However, scientists now know thata number of problems may interferewith normal brain development.Cells may migrate to the wrongplace in the brain. Or, due to prob-lems with the neural pathways orthe neurotransmitters, some partsof the communication network mayfail to perform. A problem with thecommunication network may inter-fere with the overall task of coor-dinating sensory information,thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Researchers supported by NIMHand other NIH Institutes are scru-tinizing the structures and func-tions of the brain for clues as tohow a brain with autism differsfrom the normal brain. In one lineof study, researchers are investi-gating potential defects that oc-cur during initial brain develop-ment. Other researchers are look-ing for defects in the brains ofpeople already known to have au-tism.

Scientists are also looking for ab-normalities in the brain structuresthat make up the limbic system. In-side the limbic system, an area

called the amygdala is known tohelp regulate aspects of social andemotional behavior. One study ofhigh-functioning children with au-tism found that the amygdala wasindeed impaired but that anotherarea of the brain, the hippocampus,was not. In another study, scientistsfollowed the development of mon-keys whose amygdala was disruptedat birth. Like children with autism,as the monkeys grew, they becameincreasingly withdrawn andavoided social contact.

Differences in neurotransmitters,the chemical messengers of thenervous system, are also beingexplored. For example, high levelsof the neuro-transmitter serotoninhave been found in a number ofpeople with autism. Sinceneurotransmitters are responsiblefor passing nerve impulses in thebrain and nervous system, it ispossible that they are involved inthe distortion of sensations thataccompanies autism.

NIMH grantees are also exploringdifferences in overall brain func-tion, using a technology called mag-netic resonance imaging (MRI) toidentify which parts of the brain are

energized during specific mentaltasks. In a study of adolescentboys, NIMH researchers observedthat during problem-solving andlanguage tasks, teenagers withautism were not only less success-ful than peers without autism, butthe MRI images of their brainsshowed less activity. In a study ofyounger children, researchersobserved low levels of activity inthe parietal areas and the corpuscallosum. Such research may helpscientists determine whether au-tism reflects a problem with spe-cific areas of the brain, or withthe transmission of signals fromone part of the brain to another.

Each of these differences has beenseen in some but not all the peoplewith autism who were tested. Whatcould this mean? Perhaps the termautism actually covers several dif-ferent disorders, each caused bya different problem in the brain.Or perhaps the various brain dif-ferences are themselves caused bya single underlying disorder thatscientists have not yet identified.Discovering the physical basis ofautism should someday allow us tobetter identify, treat, and possi-bly prevent it.