Although ABA therapy has a strong evidence base, particularly in regard to early intensive home-based therapy, ABAs effectiveness may be limited by diagnostic severity and IQ of the person affected by ASD. The Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology has deemed two early childhood interventions as "well-established": individual comprehensive ABA, and focused teacher-implemented ABA combined with DSP.Another evidence-based intervention that has demonstrated efficacy is a parent training model, which teaches parents how to implement various ABA and DSP techniques themselves. Various DSP programs have been developed to explicitly deliver intervention systems through at-home parent implementation. In October 2015, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) proposed new evidence-based recommendations for early interventions in ASD for children under 3. These recommendations emphasize early involvement with both developmental and behavioral methods, support by and for parents and caregivers, and a focus on both the core and associated symptoms of ASD. However, a Cochrane review found no evidence that early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) is effective in reducing behavioral problems associated with autism in most autistic children but did help improve IQ and language skills. The Cochrane review did acknowledge that this may be due to the low quality of studies currently available on EIBI and therefore providers should recommend EIBI based on their clinical judgement and the familys preferences. No adverse effects of EIBI treatment were found. Studies on pet therapy have shown positive effects.Generally speaking, treatment of ASD focuses on behavioral and educational interventions to target its two core symptoms: social communication deficits and restricted, repetitive behaviors.
More research is needed to identify what assessment methods are most effective for identifying the level of educational needs for students with ASD. Additionally, children living in higher resources settings in the United States tend to experience earlier ASD interventions than children in lower resource settings (e.g. rural areas).A difficulty for academic performance in students with ASD is the tendency to generalize learning. Learning is different for each student, which is the same for students with ASD. To assist in learning, accommodations are commonly put into place for students with differing abilities. The existing schema of these students works in different ways and can be adjusted to best support the educational development for each student.The cost of educating a student with ASD in the US is about $8,600 a year more than the cost of educating an average student, which is about $12,000.Though much of the focus on early childhood intervention for ASD has centered on high-income countries like the United States, some of the most significant unmet needs for autistic individuals are in low- and middle-income countries. In these contexts, research has been more limited but there is evidence to suggest that some comprehensive care plans can be successfully delivered by non-specialists in schools and in the community. Employment
In the United States, about half of people in their 20s with autism are unemployed, and one third of those with graduate degrees may be unemployed.