Alissa Greenberg:
Treatment Methods for Children with Autism
According to the Autism Society of America (ASA), as many as 1.5 million Americans today are believed to have some form of autism—and this number is on the rise. Based on statistics from the U.S. Department of Education and other governmental agencies, autism is growing at a startling rate of 10-17 percent per year. At this rate, the ASA estimates that the prevalence of autism could reach 4 million Americans in the next decade. While there is no known cure for autism, there are treatment and education approaches that may reduce some of the challenges associated with the condition. Doctoral student Alissa Greenburg’s goal is to identify and develop the best treatment methods for children with autism.
Alissa is beginning her second year in the Applied Developmental Psychology PhD Program. She conducts her research with the Claremont Autism Center at Claremont McKenna College, a treatment and research center for children with autism and their families. Alissa’s Master’s thesis work compares two treatment methods in an effort to determine the best way to teach eye contact to children with autism. She is also assisting in a study involving the Picture Exchange Communication System, an augmentative communication system that teaches nonverbal children with autism to communicate through the use of pictures. In this study, Alissa is assessing generalization of PECS use in the children’s homes and the community, as well as determining whether PECS use leads to an increase in the children’s verbalizations.
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