A: "Take a deep breath and begin reading." Of course, the parent is likely to be upset, confused, overwhelmed, and afraid, as any parent would be who just found out that his or her child has an unexpected challenge. But the best thing that parent can do is to begin the process of learning about autism and the many evidence-based treatments that are available. I would give the parent my own list of "must read" books and articles, and I would also caution him or her to be a discriminating consumer and consider the source of all information—there is a lot of excellent material available, but there is also a lot of material that is not backed by research and is not credible.

Q: What inspired you to work with kids with autism?

A: Strange but true—I was initially inspired by Bruno Bettelheim's book, The Empty Fortress! I read it when I was an undergraduate student and was fascinated by the children he described as well as by the Orthogenic School's approach to "treatment." Of course, I subsequently learned about the egregious errors inherent in Bettelheim's blaming of parents and his overall approach to intervention. Still, at the time, the children intrigued me—as they still do—and made me want to learn more about autism in general.