Young children with pervasive developmental disorder were randomly assigned to intensive treatment or parent training. The intensive treatment group (7 with autism, 8 with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified--NOS) averaged 24.52 hours per week of individual treatment for one year, gradually reducing hours over the next 1 to 2 years. The parent training group (7 with autism, 6 with pervasive developmental disorder NOS) received 3 to 9 months of parent training. The groups appeared similar at intake on all measures; however, at follow-up the intensive treatment group outperformed the parent training group on measures of intelligence, visual-spatial skills, language, and academics, though not adaptive functioning or behavior problems. Children with pervasive developmental disorder NOS may have gained more than those with autism.

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Generalization between expressive and receptive language was studied in six boys with autism (chronological age 47-76 months, language age 13-42 months). Each participant received training on three or four word pairs (e.g. hot/cold). Half the pairs were taught expressively and then receptively; the other half were taught in the reverse order. Data were obtained on generalization from the trained to untrained modality, generalization errors, and between-and within-subject differences. Across participants, the 'expressive first' condition led to cross-modal generalization more often than the 'receptive first' condition. However, one child displayed the opposite pattern, and three other children's patterns varied across training stimuli. Error analyses indicated that, when children failed to demonstrate receptive-to-expressive generalization, they did generalize in another manner: responding based on physical resemblance between cues used in the study and those used in previous training. The results suggest ways to individualize instruction and better understand cross-modal generalization.

The health professional workforce of North Carolina does not reflect the rich diversity of the state's population, and the underrepresentation of various demographic groups in health care may affect the health outcomes of the state's citizens. There are opportunities for educational institutions to partner with others, share successful strategies, and implement measures to promote diversity among health professionals.

It is still not universally accepted within the scientific community that the habilitation of autistic children is possible, or that their ability to function without supports in regular education by third, fourth, or fifth grade happens as a direct result of EIBI. However, using the outcome studies that have been reported, the rate of children reaching a best-outcome status appears to be between about 10% and 47%. There is a more global way to look at the effects of EIBI or behavioral intervention. Even if the child retains many characteristics of autism, the usual outcome of treatment is that the child learns useful skills. Behavioral intervention results in effective and efficient learning, which is precisely what it aims to accomplish and what behavioral techniques have been developed to do. Children and families have been able to achieve much more than many would ever have believed before EIBI became a realistic possibility.