[Modified holding therapy. A basic therapy in the treatment of autistic children].

Seven autistic children were selected at random from a group of 14 and treated with modified holding therapy (MHT) for 4 weeks. The remaining 7 children (control group) were not treated during a 4-week waiting period. Four of these children were then treated with MHT. The children's parents assessed positive behavior changes (increases in desirable behavior and decreases in undesirable behavior) and negative changes on a behavior rating scale. Significantly more positive changes in behavior problems were reported for the experimental group than for the control group (untreated group) in each of the four symptom categories assessed (disturbances in perception, in speech and in social interaction and obsessive-compulsive or ritualistic behavior). The 4 children in the control group who were later treated with MHT showed behavior changes that correlated highly with those reported for the experimental group. The results are discussed and interpreted from the viewpoint of the two-system theory of information processing and its meaning for psychoses.