title: Prologue: Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Context of Speech-Language Pathologist Intervention.
abstract: As the need for services for children with autism and related disorders has increased, so has the need for information about communication assessment and intervention for these children. Each of the articles in this forum considers essential knowledge for meeting the social, behavioral, and communication challenges presented by this population, as well as considerations for the individual variation noted within this population. It is hoped that the knowledge contained in this forum will provide interdisciplinary insight into the challenges of autism and related disorders and a research-based framework for making assessment and intervention decisions.
authors.affiliation: University of South Florida, Tampa.
authors.forename: Sylvia F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Diehl