Behavior therapy for autistic children: a study of acceptability and outcome.

An inpatient program for autistic children which used behavior modification methods is described, and a follow-up study of the first 15 children discharged from the program is reported. In general, the outcome results appear to be comparable to those of other treatment methods. A second main purpose of the study was to assess the acceptability of this program to parents and to document their impressions regarding their child's period of inpatient care. Overall, a high level of acceptability was found.