SANTA BARBARA Hundreds of autism experts from around the world gathered at UC Santa Barbara today (Sept. 19) for the Sixth Annual International Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) Autism and Asperger's Conference.
Sponsored by UC Santa Barbara's Koegel Autism Center, the two-day conference at Corwin Pavilion features scholars, educators, health care professionals, parents and even grandparents discussing autism, Asperger's syndrome, and cutting-edge intervention and treatments strategies.
According to Lynn Kern Koegel, clinical director of the Koegel Autism Center and the Broad Asperger Center, and one of two keynote speakers, the main focus of this year's conference is PRT and the associated techniques for treating every aspect of autism spectrum disorder from first words to socialization, to social conversation across all age levels, from infants to adults.
The conference began with Robert Koegel, director of the Koegel Autism Center and the second keynote speaker, providing an overview of PRT. Developed at UC Santa Barbara, PRT is a protocol based on principles of positive motivation. Researchers have found that increasing children's participation in activities they enjoy can actually lessen the severity of autism spectrum disorder symptoms and open the door to more positive social interaction. Their work with infants was highlighted in the April issue of the Journal of Positive Behavioral Interventions.
The idea, Robert Koegel said, is to focus on pivotal areas that cause widespread change in function, instead of treating "one behavior at a time, which would take forever." He also pointed out that while some 850 protocols have been identified for treating autism, only a handful including PRT have the recognized empirical evidence to support them.
Robert Koegel also discussed new studies being conducted by researchers at the center, including work with the California Department of Rehabilitation to help identify ways adults with autism can become successfully employed.
Following Robert Koegel's overview, Ty Vernon, director of the Koegel Autism Center Assessment Clinic, led a session that focused on the nuts and bolts of PRT, or as they say at the center, the ABC's antecedent, behavior and consequence. Clinicians at the center use PRT to advance language acquisition in children with autism, although, as Vernon pointed out, the treatment protocol is effective with other behaviors as well.
The antecedent represents the task the child is asked to complete to say the word "doll," for example. The behavior is the child's attempt. It may consist simply of the sound "da," but it is a positive response. The consequence, then, is the parent or clinician handing the doll to the child.
The goal of the process, Vernon said, is to help these children "become independent, active agents in their environments."
The conference continued with Lynn Koegel discussing the importance of early intervention with PRT, noting a 95 percent success rate when they begin with nonverbal children under the age of 3. Between 3 and 5, the success rate drops to between 85 and 90 percent, she said, and after 5 it plummets to about 20 percent.
Originally posted here:
Autism conference focuses on intervention, treatment