The new century, in its first decade, finds much has changed. Professionals who provide assessment and intervention to children and adults who have been identified as demonstrating symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are very literally challenged to find practices and procedures that hold out hope for successful outcomes in terms of behavioral modifications and increased speech and language in a variety of settings. As Issue Editors, Bernstein and Polirstok point out that it is generally believed that there may be a cause-or multiple causes-of ASD. For now, this issue of TLD brings you current approaches and glances of what the future may hold. As the Issue Editors indicate, many of the most effective approaches require a collaborative approach across settings.

Long-term readers may recall the December 1980 issue of TLD, entitled Autism: Ecological Issues in Intervention, whose Editor was P. S. Miller, and whose authors included Prizant, Wetherby, Mirenda and Schuler, Goldstein and Strain, Hunt and Goetz, Lord, Falvey, McLean, and Rosenberg. Readers will also note that many of the authors are still "working in the vineyard" of research and practice in autism. The puzzle is not yet solved, although there are many who believe they are getting closer to an answer.

As speech-language pathologists are aware, there are many more preschool and school-age students in educational settings and clinical settings with ASD. It is difficult to keep up with this population, and reports vary by the day. The latest the Journal Editor heard was 1 of every 250 students in public education are "autistic." But then, it was April Fool's Day.

Those whose memory serves them well may recognize that this rising tide of children was matched by the 1960s, when the label "Learning Disabilities" came onto the national scene, and, with federal funding in the schools, spurred numbers of the so-called Puzzle Children the opportunity to receive services. Such was the level of discourse over the identification and treatment of these children that the inaugural issue of TLD (December 1980) was entitled "Language Disorders and Learning Disabilities," and the first Issue Editor was G. Wallach. The authors were Stark and Wallach, Rith and Perfetti, Snyder, Berlin, Blank and Rose, Carlson, Grunewald and Nyberg, Pearson and Spiro, Zigmond, Vallecorsa and Leinhardt, and Wallach and Lee.

With 23 years gone by, there is a sense of such researchers and clinicians coming together to solve the problems of the moment. Nevertheless, perceptions of disorders and their treatment evolve, and each new decade brings new proposals. Today, evidence-based practice is seen as a possible answer, and great efforts are being conducted to use approaches such as the use of templates with clinical trials.

The Issue Editors of TLD 23:2 (Bernstein and Polirstok) have assembled authors who provide a range of interesting proposals from our profession and allied professions on what is now and what may become successful new approaches. Readers will have an opportunity to measure these approaches as time goes by. However, one hopes that such progress is made in years, not decades. Children with ASD need assistance now, and every day may seem a year to them.