Page 10 Message from ASAT President, David Celiberti, PhD.

, BCBA-D
Science in Autism Treatment

Happy New Year! On behalf of ASAT, I hope 2012 brings you good things. I also hope that this year will bring a deeper appreciation for the rele- vance of science in guiding autism treatment, greater expectations of accountability from all treatment providers, more accuracy within media portrayals, and heightened awareness of the pit- falls and distractions of pseudoscience. As you may recall, I shared many of our 2011 ac- complishments in the Fall 2011 issue of Science in Dr. Daniel Mruzek coordinates this column and Autism Treatment (SIAT). In late November, we you will find the first installment on page 12. welcomed Dr. Daniela Fazzio to our board. Daniela Increase our Facebook fans to 5,000, Twitter will be heading up our international dissemination followers to 1,000, and increase ASATs pres- efforts (please see photo above of Daniela hang glid- ence on quality autism community blogs. ing over Rio de Janeiro). Create a resource booklet for pediatricians and primary care physicians, Beyond an ASD Diag- We are anticipating an even more productive new nosis: Supporting Families Over the Lifespan. It year. It is with great pride and optimism that I out- is hoped that this resource will improve the ca- line an array of goals and initiatives for 2012: pacity of pediatricians, primary care physicians, Generate new content for www.asatonline.org and other health care professionals to help fami- and update the treatment summaries for biomed- lies navigate the various treatment options safely ical, behavioral and non-behavioral treatments. and effectively. Our goal with this resource is to Launch a webpage for journalists (tentatively maximize children's outcomes, promote a high quality of life, and empower families to make titled Autism Guide for the Media). treatment decisions based on accurate infor- Launch a webpage for parents with a newlymation. diagnosed child with autism. Increase our presence within the medical com- Increase our global impact by including transla- munity, particularly pediatricians and family tion of our content into various languages, in- practice doctors by making information about cluding directions on how to automatically trans- ASAT and science-based treatment available to late the whole site. We are beginning this pro- them. cess, please see the upper-right corner of the Expand ASATs participation at state, regional, main webpage. national and international conferences. For ex- Continue to identify ways in which ASATs ini- ample, ASAT was featured on the program of tiatives can better address interventions for the So Paulo School of Advanced Science: Au- adults with autism and support and guide their tism, in Brazil, and will join the Association for caregivers. We also hope to expand coverage of Behavior Analysis International (ABAI) Pro- genetics, epidemiology, assessment & biomedi- gram Exposition in Seattle, Washington and oth- cal treatment issues. er venues throughout the year. Increase Science in Autism Treatment subscriber Provide information regarding ASAT and autism base from 7,000 to 10,000, and with subscriber to faculty in special education, psychology, and representation from 80 countries to at least 90 speech pathology programs nationwide. countries. More extensively tap into the wealth of experi- Debut Focus on Science, a new column in our ence and expertise of our Advisory Board mem- newsletter that highlights the scientific method.
(Continued on page 28)

Volume 9,1 Winter 2012

ASAT
Providing Accurate, Science-Based Information - Promoting Access to Effective Treatment