Incorporating the interests and preferences of young children with autism spectrum disorders into interventions to promote prosocial behavior and decrease behavior excesses has emerged as a promising practice for addressing the core features of autism. The efficacy of interest-based early intervention practices was examined in a meta-analysis of 24 studies including 78 children 2 to 6 years of age diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Effect size analyses of intervention versus nonintervention conditions and high-interest versus low-interest contrasts indicated that interest-based intervention practices were effective in terms of increasing prosocial and decreasing aberrant child behavior. Additionally, interest-based interventions that focused on two of the three core features of autism spectrum disorders (poor communication, poor interpersonal relationships) were found most effective in influencing child outcomes. Implications for very early intervention are discussed in terms addressing the behavior markers of autism spectrum disorders before they become firmly established. 1. Introduction Children with autism spectrum disorders often manifest difficulties with communication and interpersonal relationships as well as manifest obsessive and repetitive behaviors [1, 2]. The latter are generally described as preoccupations, restricted and repetitive behavior, compulsions, stereotypes, and limited interests [3–5]. The terminology most often used to describe the limited interests of individuals with autism spectrum disorders includes narrow interests [6], ritualistic interests [7], circumscribed interests [8], and perseverative interests [9]. As stated into the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV [10], markedly restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of interests, behavior, and activities are one of the criteria for diagnosing autism spectrum disorders. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV-Text Revision [11] includes additional information about the patterns of behavior associated with the restricted and repetitive interests, behavior, and activities of individuals with autism spectrum disorders. These include the preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus; inflexible engagement in specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals, stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms; persistent preoccupation with parts of objects. The ways in which limited interests have been incorporated in studies of individuals with autism
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