Story perspectives

Study Reveals Weak Evidence for Autism Alternative Therapies

8/30/2025

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Summary

Story summary

A review of autism therapies found insufficient evidence for alternative treatments, many lacking safety evaluations.
Oxytocin therapy showed promise in reducing repetitive behaviors in adults but was ineffective for other symptoms.
Music and animal-assisted interventions had weak support for their effectiveness.
Researchers call for rigorous studies to evaluate these therapies.
The study analyzed 248 meta-analyses with over 10,000 participants, published in *Nature Human Behavior*.

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Story summary

A review of autism therapies found insufficient evidence for alternative treatments, many lacking safety evaluations.
Oxytocin therapy showed promise in reducing repetitive behaviors in adults but was ineffective for other symptoms.
Music and animal-assisted interventions had weak support for their effectiveness.
Researchers call for rigorous studies to evaluate these therapies.
The study analyzed 248 meta-analyses with over 10,000 participants, published in *Nature Human Behavior*.