Behavioral Interventions with and without Pharmacological Treatment: A Comparative Study at An Autistic Center in Jordan

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex and highly variable neurodevelopmental disorder. This manuscript describes an observational study aimed at evaluating the impact of behavioral and pharmacological treatments on autistic patients at a Jordanian Autism Institution. Patients were evaluated every three months to assess their progress in behavioral treatment using the ABLLS (Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills) method, which evaluates 25 skills based on a child’s performance. The researcher collected all previous assessments and observed at least two evaluation periods. Males comprised 90.38% of the study population. Among psychiatric conditions, hyperactivity (36.54%) and irritability (30.77%) showed the highest prevalence. The first interval served as the baseline. Results from the second and third intervals showed slight differences but were not statistically significant. In contrast, the fourth interval demonstrated a statistically significant difference (P < 0.0001). In conclusion, combining pharmacological and behavioral treatments appears more beneficial than behavioral therapy alone, although this benefit may take at least a year to manifest effectively.