"Classroom Pivotal Response Teaching, or CPRT, was developed to help meet the educational needs of young children with autism. CPRT (originally called Pivotal Response Training or Treatment) is a form of naturalistic behavioral intervention, based on theprinciples of applied behavior analysis (ABA), and is soundly supported in the scientific literature. This manual will describe the components of CPRT and how to implement the approach in your classroom. Although this manual is geared primarily toward preschool through grade 3 teachers, CPRT strategies can be used by a variety of professionals. Speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, behavior specialists, psychologists and other teaching professionals may all find CPRT a valuable strategy. Additionally, the techniques in this manual may be useful with typically developing children and those with a variety of special needs. Most children can benefit from this structured, systematic approach that utilizes naturally occurring teaching opportunities. One of the strengths of this approach is that it is adaptable to a wide range of teaching goals and service settings. All who teach are encouraged to integrate CPRT into their existing strategies as often as possible"--Provided by publisher.

With this proven approach based on of 20 years of research, educators and therapists will use natural learning opportunities to help children with autism enjoy more positive interactions, more effective communication, and higher academic achievement.

"One of the most respected and widely used autism interventions, Pivotal response treatment uses natural learning opportunities to modify key behaviors in children-leading to widespread positive effects on communication, behavior, and social skills. Now the pioneering experts behind PRT have created a comprehensive modern guide to this research-based approach, completely reworked and revised for today's therapists, educators, and parents."--Page 4 de la couverture.

This book shows psychologists and other mental health providers how to assess and treat emotional and behavioral problems in classrooms, including those arising from autism diagnoses.

Children who have autism require comprehensive educational and treatment services. There are a myriad of approaches currently recommended to practitioners and parents, but little is known about their efficacy. Which are the most effective in teaching skills, overcoming behavior challenges, and improving quality of life? Methods must be based in research settings, but be easily extended to real world settings where children with autism live, go to school, socialize, and recreate. Identifying and validating effective practices is a complex and multi-faceted process, but an essential one for responsible research and practice. This book brings together multiple and contemporary perspectives on intervention effectiveness for autism education and behavior support. With contributors from a variety of disciplines and orientations, Effective Practices for Children with Autism presents a critical appraisal of current practice standards, emphasizing empirically supported procedures and research-to-practice applications. By bringing together a diverse group of authors, the editors have ensured that the vast field of information on interventions for children with autism is thoroughly examined, and that no topic has gone untouched. Written for practitioners, research scientists, and clinicians, the book is an essential framework for evaluating educational and treatment procedures, selecting those that are most effective, and evaluating outcomes.

The primary purpose of this current investigation was to determine if a variation of Pivotal Response Training (PRT) can be effectively implemented by a preschool autism teacher in a classroom setting. The secondary purpose was to measure changes in spontaneous, prompted, and echoic expressive language (i.e., words and phrases) in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This study included three preschool children with an educational diagnosis of autism and one classroom teacher. A multiple baseline design across participants was utilized in which the three children engaged in baseline, teacher training, PRT treatment, and generalization phases. During the baseline phase, the children engaged in teacher lesson activities, teacher play activities, and peer play activities to measure teacher and child behaviors in their existing state. During the teacher training phase, the teacher learned to utilize PRT through a collaborative consultation model. More specifically, the teacher read PRT strategy manuals, discussed PRT strategies with the primary investigator, and the primary investigator modeled and role played with the teacher in order to effectively implement the PRT strategies. During the treatment phase, the teacher independently implemented PRT strategies during the teacher lesson activities. In the generalization phase, children engaged in teacher play and peer play activities (presented in the same manner as found in the baseline phase) to determine if behavior changes (teacher and child) generalized into nontargeted activities. Throughout the course of this investigation, two child measures and one teacher measure were obtained during the investigation. The first child measure reflected spontaneous, prompted, and echoic expressive language to determine language improvement as a result of teacher implemented PRT. The second child measure reflected the child's play behaviors to determine behavior improvement in nontargeted activities (peer play, teacher play) as a result of teacher implemented PRT. The one teacher measure reflected if the classroom teacher effectively implemented PRT during the teacher lesson and teacher play. Findings from this investigation revealed several improvements relative to teacher and child behaviors. Relative to the teacher behavior, the classroom teacher effectively learned how to appropriately implement all PRT strategies during the teacher lesson activities for all three children. By engaging the teacher in a collaborative consultation model, the teacher's behavior systematically improved. Additionally, results documented that the teacher generalized some, but not all, of the PRT strategies to the teacher play activities (nontargeted activities). More specifically, the teacher significantly improved implementation of the following PRT strategies into teacher play activities: Child attending (Child 3), providing clear opportunities (Child 1, 2, 3), providing contingent reinforcement (Child 1, 2, 3), providing contingent reinforcement for attempts (Child 1, 2, 3), providing social reinforcement (child 2), maintenance tasks (approaching statistical significance for Child 3), following the child's lead (Child 1 and 2), turn taking (Child 2, 3), and child's choice (Child 2). These results are promising in that the teacher effectively implemented PRT in a new setting where no direct instruction of how to utilize PRT was provided. Findings related to the child's behaviors indicated that expressive language improvements were evidenced for all three children. More specifically, improvements in spontaneous words (Child 1, 2, 3), prompted words (Child 1, 2, 3), and echoic words (Child 1, 2) were noted during the teacher lesson activities. Additionally, improvements in spontaneous phrases (Child 1, 2), prompted phrases (Child 1), and echoic phrases (Child 1, 2) were evidenced during the teacher lesson activities. Findings indicate that language improvements in all three children were a direct result of teacher implemented PRT during the teacher lesson. In addition to documented language improvements during teacher lesson activities, expressive language improvements were noted for Child 3 in the areas of prompted words and spontaneous phrases during teacher play activities. Generalization of expressive language skills (i.e., prompted words, spontaneous phrases) from the teacher lesson activities to the teacher play activities suggest that improvements may be due to the fact that some of the PRT strategies were incorporated into the teacher play activities, thus eliciting more communication from Child 3. Improvements in child play behaviors during peer and teacher play activities also evidenced. During peer play activities, it was found that Child 2 and 3 demonstrated significant improvements for appropriate play and functional play. During teacher play activities, Child 1 exhibited significant improvements for symbolic play, whereas Child 3 demonstrated significant improvements in the areas of joint attention, eye contact appropriate play, and functional play and decreases in inappropriate play. Improved play skills may be a result of utilization of educational materials and toys by the teacher that were of interest to the children as well as improved manipulation of play materials by the children, which generalized into play activities. These improvements suggest that the children developed play scripts and used toys more appropriately. Furthermore, these increases may have motivated the children to interact and share toys with other individuals as a result of teacher implemented PRT during the teacher lesson activities.

There have been huge advances in our ability to diagnose autism and in the development of effective interventions that can change children’s lives. In this extraordinary book, Lynn Kern Koegel, a leading clinician, researcher, and cofounder of the renowned Autism Research Center at the University of California at Santa Barbara, combines her cutting-edge expertise with the everyday perspectives of Claire LaZebnik, a writer whose experience with a son with autism provides a rare window into the disorder. Together, they draw on the highly effective “pivotal response” approach developed at the center to provide concrete ways of improving the symptoms of autism and the emotional struggles that surround it, while reminding readers never to lose sight of the humor that lurks in the disability’s quirkiness or the importance of enjoying your child. From the shock of diagnosis to the step-by-step work with verbal communication, social interaction, self-stimulation, meltdowns, fears, and more, the answers are here-in a book that is as warm and nurturing as it is authoritative.

Educational Interventions for Students with Autism offers educators a vital resource for understanding and working with autistic students. Written by nationally acclaimed experts in the field and published in collaboration with the world-renowned UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, the book aims to deepen educators' appreciation of the challenges surrounding autism in a classroom setting and the current best practices in education for autism. To best meet the practical needs of teachers, school administrators, and parents, the book includes integrative summaries throughout, with recommendations for real-world classroom use. Topics covered include: how autism affects student learning, autism and its impact on schools, a teacher's view of autism and the classroom, best practices and challenges of working with students with ASD in the classroom,working with high-functioning autism (HFA) in schools, successful community-school partnerships, options for teacher training, and more.