Current Status of Psychopharmacological, Neuromodulation, and Oxytocin Treatments for Autism: Implications for Clinical Practice

Objectives To provide an overview of the current literature regarding the neurobiological treatments of psychopharmacology, neuromodulation, oxytocin therapy, and psychological resilience, as treatments for autism-related difculties, and to distil the research fndings from those treatments for everyday clinical application

Methods Instead of producing another specifc systematic summary of the efcacy of these treatments, this review took an overview of each feld of research, identifed its key research fndings, and evaluated the treatment-ready status of each of them in terms of their evidence base. From this information, a set of recommendations were derived for their clinical applications, so as to inform practice in the field.

Results These treatments represent relatively recent and neurobiologically based approaches to the challenges of autism, and are in the development stage. Each treatment is promising, and has some evidential basis for its success, but all need further research to establish their evidence-based validity for everyday clinical usage.

Conclusions While most of these treatments can be applied with caution, clinicians should acknowledge their restrictive benefits and costs, that are described herein. Within those caveats, each of these treatments should be considered as an emerging therapy that clinicians should consider utilising in appropriate settings and with specific cases.