Advances in evidence-based intervention and assessment practices for youth with an autism spectrum disorder.

This special series is designed to highlight recent advances in the evidence-based treatment and assessment of youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The seven articles for this special series include novel applications of cognitive-behavioral therapy to address core aspects of ASD, empirical research that provides understanding of ways to assess and intervene with individuals with ASD, and studies that focus on the implementation of evidence-based interventions for youth with ASD. In this introductory paper, we provide an overview of the current state of the field related to the treatment and assessment of youth with ASD and discuss related themes addressed across the papers in the series. We conclude with a brief description of each of the seven papers in the series.