Any parent or teacher of a child with autism will tell you the heartbreak they feel when they call a child's name and he or she doesn't respond. This most basic social interaction is often a challenge for children on the autism spectrum and in turn, more complex social exchanges seem insurmountable.

"I'm less worried about his academic skills. I want him to be able to be in a room with people and like being there," said one parent of a child with autism that I know. "I want people to like having him there."

This desire for engagement is common for families raising children with autism, whose social and attention deficits often account for a significant amount of their challenges.

Parents have been seeking therapies to increase attention and interaction for years. One treatment continues to remain a part of the conversation today.

Auditory integration training, or AIT, was developed in the 1950s by Dr.