Lovaas And Brady's Theoretics: Article Analysis

In this article, Hixon et. al. summarizes five different theories about the etiology of behavior patterns in children with autism. Ultimately, the article concludes that while more research needs to be done, Lovaas and Smith’s and Spradlin and Brady’s theories are the most plausible in accordance with current research. Lovaas and Smith focus on manipulating the environment that the child is in to ensure success based on their behavioral deficits and differences in abilities to learn based on stimulus responses. Spradlin and Brady’s theory attributes difficulties regarding social behaviors to limitations in stimulus control; social interactions are unstable and novel, so it is challenging for these children to adjust to these stimuli and imitate …show more content…
One limitation to the source is that the article itself is from 2008, and some studies cited are date back to the 1970s; therefore, newer evidence may be available that could provide a different direction for theories, mainly because so little was known about autism when those studies were performed. Another limitation it was difficult for many of the studies to identify an adequate control group, and so the exact comparisons could be inaccurate. In the conclusion, the article ultimately gives the theories that have the most supporting evidence (Lovaas & Smith and Spradlin & Brady), but also indicates the need for more research to develop a firm conclusion on the etiology of behaviors in children with autism. This article contributes to my research because it identifies specific areas that can be identified as problematic and plausible theories that have aspects supported by studies. After reading this article, I want to look more into the theories of etiology of Lovaas & Smith and Spradlin & Brady and examine whether there is more recent evidence to further support either of