Description: This article discusses applying behavior analysis to autism. Abstract: The growing number of children diagnosed with autism and the recognized importance of evidence-based interventions has substantially increased the need for well-trained applied behavior analysts. Relative to public/consumer demand, there are very few higher education programs that are equipped to train behavior analysts specializing in autism. Worldwide, there are only a few programs accredited by Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI), that have course sequences approved by the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB), and have formal institutional course approval for classes in autism and behavior analysis. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a series of expert commentary on the context, content and systems required to build quality higher education programs in autism and applied behavior analysis. Together the articles in this special section of the European Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis form a resource for faculty and university administrators interested in the development of innovative and socially relevant training programs in higher education.

Description: This article discusses important things to consider when starting an intervention for a child diagnosed with autism. The authors discuss questions that one should ask before beginning such an undertaking and important things to consider after the first year of intervention.

Description: This article discusses development of interests in children with autism. Abstract: By definition, children with autism have limited interests. While considerable efforts have been directed toward the social and communication difficulties faced by children with autism, less attention has been directed towards understanding the development and acquisition of new interests. Such understanding may help autism interventionists-establish increasingly diverse and complex interests thereby increasing reinforcing events, learning opportunities, activity participation, and social engagement. This paper describes an observational system for monitoring reinforcer diversity and event engagement during naturalistic teaching portions of an early intervention program. Data are presented for two children. It is suggested that such measures are necessary for two reasons. First, given the lack of empirical support and the importance of reinforcers, there is a need for measurement systems to monitor the development of interests in early intervention programs for children with autism. Second, there is a paucity of research addressing expansion of interests. Developing measurement systems increases the likelihood that evidence-based practices will emerge. Hopefully, these efforts will increase our knowledge, increase child preference for instruction, and open avenues for enhanced instructional and life opportunities based on expanded interests.

Description: This article discusses dharmic ecology. Abstract: This is an article about the lives of the Swadhyayis, Swadhyaya practitioners, in the Indian states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. The Swadhyaya movement arose in the mid-twentieth century in Gujarat as a new religious movement led by its founder, the late Pandurang Shastri Athavale. In the author's research, he discovered that there is no category of "environmentalism" in the "way of life" of Swadhyayis living in the villages. Following Weightman and Pandey (1978), the author argues that the concept of dharma can be successfully applied as an overarching term for the sustainability of the ecology, environmental ethics, and the religious lives of Swadhyayis. Dharma synthesizes their way of life with environmental ethics based on its multidimensional interpretations.

Description: This paper is about reinterpreting yajna as Vedic sacrifice. Vedic rituals, yajnas, were one of the most important socio-religious activities in Vedic India. In this article, the author endeavors to problematize the term "sacrifice," which is often used to translate the word yajna in Indological writings. Although Monier-Williams (MW) dictionary defines yajnas as - "worship, devotion, prayer, praise; act of worship or devotion, offering, oblation, sacrifice (the former meanings prevailing in Veda, the latter in post-Vedic literature)", some of the primary meanings of the word yajna seem to have been sidelined with the scholarly emphasis on "sacrifice" as the chief interpretation. Several Vedicists have already expressed their disapprovals with equating yajna with sacrifice.