[Behavioral modification psychotherapies in the autistic child].

Behavioral modification psychotherapies, largely diffused in the anglo-saxon countries, are used here for treating severely autistic children, hospitalized in a child psychiatry service for at least one year. Using Kanner's clinical study on childhood autism, the same syndrome is being described in behavioral terms. This new approach is the basis for the therapeutic project, both on practical and theoretical grounds. To illustrate the method and its application, three observations of children hospitalized between 1976 and 1977 are presented. The results are summarized and discussed (Acta psychiat. belg., 1977, 77, 549-586).