SANP Swiss Archives of Neurology, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy 2297-7007 2297-6981 EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG Farnsburgerstrasse 8 CH-4132 Muttenz 03126 10.4414/sanp.2020.03126 Review article Paediatric neurology The Applied Behaviour Analysis imperative in the management of autism Fombonne Eric fombonne@ohsu.edu UNITED STATES | +33 15037010132 27 07 2020 171 04 0 0 Copyright: EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG 2020 EMH Schweizerischer Ärzteverlag AG "Swiss Archives of Neurology, Psychiatry and Psychotherapy" is an open access publication of EMH published in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons licence attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivatives 4.0 International. You are free to share, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format under the following terms: Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use. NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material. "Non-commercial" means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation. The incorporation of publications in commercial products, the use of publications to advertise for commercial products or services and any other usage that directly or indirectly pursues commercial interests is subject to the express previous consent of the publishing house as part of a written agreement. Please send us your request in writing. Exact indication of the publication from which you would like to reproduce material and detailed information about its intended use help to facilitate and expedite request processing. <p>ABA interventions have the most robust body of evidence showing their efficacy in improving the outcome of autism. Comprehensive ABA interventions include the Lovaas model and a group of more recent naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions. Randomized clinical trials have shown developmental gains associated with those interventions in key domains (cognitive, language, play, social behavior) although initial results have not been consistently replicated. There is no direct head to head comparison of comprehensive ABA approaches, and evidence for the need to deliver treatments with very high intensity or to intervene at a very early age is largely inconsistent. Implementation of ABA comprehensive interventions in community settings is associated with lesser effects. Pragmatic, low-cost interventions for low-resource countries and settings are currently being tested.</p>