Essential Oils and Aromatherapy: Is There Science Behind That?

Catherine L. McHugh, MA, BCBA, LBA, Stacha C. Leslie, MEd, BCBA, LBA, and Thomas Zane, PhD, BCBA-D Department of Applied Behavioral Science, University of Kansas Current empirically supported treatments for autism (e.g., applied behavior analysis, speech therapy, etc.) can be expensive and time consuming for individuals with autism and relevant stakeholders (i.e., caregivers). Given this,…

A Treatment Summary of Holding Therapy

Updated by: Jacquelin Medrano, MS, and Natalie Wilcox, BA University of Oregon Description: Holding therapy (HT) was a method developed to address behavior(s) in children and adults based primarily on alternative theories and attachment theories. Alternative theories are the belief that personality characteristics can be transformed by forceful physical means (Pignotti & Mercer, 2007). Attachment theory,…

Chelation Therapy

Updated by Lisa Tereshko, PhD, BCBA-D, Endicott College Joyce Mauk, MD, Burnett School of Medicine at TCU and Austin College Description: There is a hypothesis that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have higher levels of toxic heavy metals in their systems than their peers (Lagan & Balfe, 2018); however, this hypothesis is unproven. This…