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This paper discussed behavioral approaches which are known to be very effective in working with children with autism. The main principle of behavior therapy is to create an optimal therapeutic environment at the functioning level of each child so that he can successfully perform the given task regardless of the severity of disability. To create an optimal therapeutic environment involves: (1) to break down a task into smaller steps to make the task easier, (2) to remove problematic elements, prior to therapy, that may cause major behavior problems; (3) to give appropriate degree of assistance timely to the level that can lead to successful achievement of the given task; and (5) to reinforce successful achievements with appropriate rewards. The behavioral approach has been known to be one of the most successful therapeutic methods not only in decreasing problem behaviors but also in teaching self-help skills, speech, play and social skills to children with autism. However, One needs to heed the idiosyncratic characteristics of some autistic children, which are hypo- or hyper-sensitivity to visual, auditory, and tactile sensations. Therefore, the formentioned behavioral techniques should not be applied strictly to working with autistic children, but shoule be modified accordingly to the physiological and learning characteristics of each child. Some studies on language and social skill training and treatment of problem behaviors for autistic children were reviewed in this paper.
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