Parental reports on the use of treatments and therapies for children with autism spectrum disorders

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; N = 479) reported via web-based survey what pharmacological (drug), diet, and behavioral/educational/alternative therapies they had tried and were using now in the treatment of their children with ASD. Depending on type of ASD, children had tried, on average, between seven and nine therapies and were now using between four and six. Children with Asperger's syndrome had tried significantly more drug treatments than had those with autism or PDD-NOS, while those in these latter two groups had tried more behavioral/educational/alternative therapies. Adolescents had a higher prevalence of drug-treatment use compared with those in middle childhood, who, in turn, had a higher frequency of use relative to those in early childhood. For most behavioral/educational/alternative treatments, more children in early and middle childhood had tried them compared with adolescents. Likewise, children in both early and middle childhood were currently using a higher number of behavioral/educational/alternative treatments than were those in the adolescent group. Findings are discussed relative to both the extant literature on treatment use among ASD families and how parents choose among the plethora of available therapies. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.