Objectives: The study objectives were to develop and objectively assess the therapeutic effect of a novel movement-based complementary and alternative medicine approach for children with an autism-spectrum disorder (ASD). Design: A within-subject analysis comparing pre-to post-treatment scores on two standard measures of childhood behavioral problems was used. Settings and location: The intervention and data analysis occurred at a tertiary care, medical school teaching hospital. Subjects: Twenty-four (24) children aged 3-16 years with a diagnosis of an ASD comprised the study group. Intervention: The efficacy of an 8-week multimodal yoga, dance, and music therapy program based on the relaxation response (RR) was developed and examined. Outcome measures: The study outcome was measured using The Behavioral Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2) and the Aberrant Behavioral Checklist (ABC). Results: Robust changes were found on the BASC-2, primarily for 5-12-year-old children. Unexpectedly, the post-treatment scores on the Atypicality scale of the BASC-2, which measures some of the core features of autism, changed significantly ( p = 0.003). Conclusions: A movement-based, modified RR program, involving yoga and dance, showed efficacy in treating behavioral and some core features of autism, particularly for latency-age children.

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Polyfunctional monomers such as allyl methacrylate, allyl acrylate, and diallyl maleate have been found to greatly enhance the radiation crosslinking of polyethylene. The radiation dose for incipient gelation is decreased by a factor of approximately 25 by the presence of small amounts of these monomers. The ultimate scission/crosslinking ratio is unchanged by the presence of these monomers and the swelling behavior of the gels follows the Flory‐Rehner equation. The monomer‐crosslinking process is compared to the monomer‐free process as regards the physical properties (tensile strength, elongation, modulus) of the crosslinked materials. A mechanism is presented for the enhancement of polyethylene crosslinking by polyfunctional monomers.