Psycholobiological Referents for the Treatment of Autism.

In studies of preschool children, four clusters of symptoms seem most useful in characterizing those children who manifest autism: (1) failure to establish human relatedness and meaningful social attachments; (2) impairment of motivation to become competent; (3) disturbances of perceptual integration; and (4) impairment of the development of cognitive functions. One of the most important impairments of autistic children is perceptual inconstancy (irregularity in the processing of sensory data by the various receptor systems). The likelihood of physiological and biochemical changes under autistic conditions of sensory deprivation require that perceptual patterns be promoted in the child as early as possible. A program of treatment for the autistic child should include parent participation and parent education, with the goal of reducing distortions in the parent-child relationship. Otherwise, treatment of the preschool autistic child should be concerned with establishing perceptual organization and cortical control over his sensory experiences. Further research is needed on the relationship between parental attitudes or child rearing practices and the existence of an autistic child. (WD)