PRT Get's Results for Autism - That's the good news...

I am a big fan of both Dr. Koegel and PRT - and I am frustrated that it is so hard to find agencies who provide behavior services who have staff with good training in this intervention. Any idea's for this LA mom?  Anyone working with an agency who's nailed this?  Please let me know via email at autismdaybyday@gmail.com! Thanks in advance :)

KOEGEL AUTISM PRT

Study co-authored by Lynn Koegel of the Koegel Autism Center at UC Santa Barbara shows effectiveness of Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT)® Friends and Colleagues, We have some exciting news to share with you! A study in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders co-authored by Lynn Koegel, Clinic Director of the Koegel Autism Clinic at UC Santa Barbara, offers findings that contribute to the overall body of literature supporting Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT). Appearing in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, the paper, co-authored with Fereshteh Mohammadzaheri and Mohammad Rezaee, from the Hamadan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Hamadan, Iran, and Seyeed Majid Rafiee from the Institute for Cognitive Science Studies, Teheran, Iran, is entitled “A Randomized Clinical Trial Comparison Between Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) and Structured Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Intervention for Children with Autism.”     Thirty children diagnosed with autism, 18 boys and 12 girls, ranging in age from 6 to 11 years, participated in this study. The children were randomly paired and assigned to either a group where they were treated with traditional applied behavior analysis (ABA) methods or with pivotal response treatment. After three months of intervention, the data showed that the PRT approach was significantly more effective in improving targeted and untargeted areas. The children in the PRT group saw greater gains in social communication skills, as well as overall gains in pragmatic skills, including inappropriate initiation, coherence, stereotyped language, use of context, and rapport. “With large numbers of children being diagnosed with autism, intervention procedures that are more efficient are both time and cost effective,” the paper concludes. “As well, procedures that speed up the habilitation process are important for children with ASD [Autism Spectrum Disorders], particularly if they produce widespread gains beyond the specific treatment goals.”