Selected Books and Chapters

In Section I of the book, I provide an overview of ASD, of the elements of intervention (services, training, research, policy), and the infrastructure of agencies and organizations supporting intervention, highlighting key opportunities and challenges to scaling up services. Sections II and III are authored by leaders of 9 programs , each providing service, training, research and/or policy, at the regional, state, or national level. This includes a chapter describing the Delaware Autism Program, and a second chapter describing efforts in Pennsylvania, Chapters are written to encourage dissemination; they include examples of programs based in different agencies and domains, and information about their structure, funding, and evolution.  In Section IV, I conclude by outlining specific principles for developing a more coordinated network that leverages local, state, and national resources, and by laying out a blueprint for regions and states just beginning to build a service infrastructure and those with more ambitious goals.

Doehring, Peter (2014). Translating Research into Effective Social Policy. In Volkmar, F. Paul, R., Rogers, S., & Pelphrey, K. Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders: Assessment, Interventions, Policy, the Future (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

In the final chapter to this two volume series, I outline some of the opportunities and barriers to linking autism  research to current social policy, focusing on the United States. The chapter centers on a fictitious case study of a young man who slowly sinks into a behavioral crisis that was readily preventable but that results in suspension from school, in-patient hospitalization, and potential residential placement. At each step in this crisis, I describe the role that research or social policy could have played in addressing the factors contributing to his deteriorating situation.

Entries include: (a) Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC); (b) Family Burden; (c) Learned Helplessness; (d) Regional Centers; (e) Statewide Service programs; (f) (with Kim Musheno) US Social Policy. In Volkmar, F. Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders (2013). Springer, New York.

In contrast to a traditional edited volume, authors here objectively rated the quality of all of the available outcome research in their specific area of expertise, to make clear statements about evidence-based practice. Chapters evaluated interventions addressing: behavioral excesses;  deficits in social and  communication skills; cognitive behavior therapy;  psychopharmacology; sensory approaches; complementary and alternative treatments, and; adaptive behavior.  Another  chapter describes steps taken to implement EBP at the Delaware Autism Program,

A series of entries outline key agencies, movements, and concepts in autism spectrum disorder