Key issues that will be covered:

• Psychosocial interventions, including: behavioural therapies (for example, applied behavioural analysis, applied behaviour intervention) educational interventions, carer- and peer-delivered interventions arts-based therapies (for example, dramatherapy, art and music therapy) sensory interventions (for example, auditory integration therapy, sensory integration) interventions that address communication and social interaction.
• Pharmacological interventions, including: anticonvulsants antidepressants antipsychotics stimulants hormones cognitive enhancers chelation therapy.
• Note that guideline recommendations normally fall within licensed indications; exceptionally, and only if clearly supported by evidence, use outside a licensed indication may be recommended. The guideline will assume that prescribers will use a drug’s summary of product characteristics to inform decisions made with individual patients.
• Physical interventions, including: acupuncture hyperbaric oxygen therapy exercise massage cranial osteopathy.
• Nutritional interventions, including: diet vitamins supplements.
• Modifications to the management of autism made necessary by the child or young person with autism having any of the following as a coexisting condition: mental and behaviour problems and disorders (including ADHD, anxiety disorders and phobias, mood disorders, oppositional defiant behaviour, tics or Tourette syndrome, OCD and self-injurious behaviour) neurodevelopmental problems and disorders (including global delay or intellectual disability, motor coordination problems or developmental coordination disorder, academic learning problems and speech and language disorder) medical or genetic problems and disorders (including epilepsy and epileptic encephalopathy, chromosome disorders, genetic abnormalities, tuberous sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and neurofibromatosis) functional problems and disorders (including feeding problems, urinary incontinence or enuresis, constipation, altered bowel habit, faecal incontinence or encopresis, sleep disturbances and vision or hearing impairment).
• Anticipating, preventing and managing behaviour that challenges.
• Alterations needed to routine and acute healthcare.
• Information for children and young people, and their families (including siblings) and carers, throughout the care pathway.
• Support needs of children and young people, their families and carers throughout the care pathway (for example, case management).
• Interface with other services within healthcare and outside for the optimal organisation and delivery of care.

Issues that will not be covered:

• Recognition, referral and diagnosis.
• Therapeutic intervention and management of the symptoms and behaviours associated with Rett syndrome.
• Management of coexisting conditions, unless these affect interventions, management or support for autism.