Pivotal Response Therapy - History

History

Initial attempts to treat autism were mostly unsuccessful and in the 1960s researchers began to focus on behavioral intervention therapies. Though these interventions enjoyed a degree of success, limitations included long hours needed for thousands of trials and limited generalization to new environments. Drs. Lynn and Robert Koegel incorporated ideas from the natural language procedures to develop verbal communication in children with autism. They theorized that, if effort was focused on certain pivotal responses, intervention would be more successful and efficient. As they saw it, developing these pivotal behaviors would result in widespread improvement in other areas. Pivotal Response Theory (PRT) is based on a belief that autism is a much less severe disorder than originally thought.

Read more about this topic:  Pivotal Response Therapy

Famous quotes containing the word history:

    There is no example in history of a revolutionary movement involving such gigantic masses being so bloodless.
    Leon Trotsky (1879–1940)

    In every election in American history both parties have their clichés. The party that has the clichés that ring true wins.
    Newt Gingrich (b. 1943)

    For a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an aesthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.
    F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)