Currently a graduate student at UCSB, Kristen has dedicated many years to her compassionate work at Koegel Autism Consultants. Not only is she regarded with the utmost respect among co-workers, she has positively affected numerous children and young adults with autism. Furthermore, her dedication exemplifies her as a true leader in research for PRT and she continues to advance her passion for helping those affected by autism. Below is a short interview in which Kristen responds to several questions regarding her astounding work. 

Why did you want to work with children with autism?

I wanted to work with children with autism because each child is unique and special in their own way. Children with autism have so much potential and they have the ability to succeed in developing meaningful friendships and independent living skills.  I enjoy working with the toddlers all the way to the adults and watching them progress in their home and school environments. 

What piece of advice can you give families with children affected by autism?

Their child can and will improve with hard work and incorporation of PRT in their everyday routine.  It will be challenging at times, but children with autism have many strengths and early intervention is crucial to their success.  Use all the resources that you can and be an active part of your child's development. 

How has working with children with autism affected your life?

It has taught me to appreciate the differences in each individual, whether or not they have autism.  I have grown to admire the children and families that are affected with autism, and their ability to persevere and work together to overcome the disorder.  It has made me appreciate the things that I took for granted growing up (having friends, going to an included school, etc.) and I want others to be able to have as positive of an experience as I did growing up. 

What is the greatest improvement you have seen in a child with autism?

Seeing a college student with Aspergers improve his socialization skills and become an officer in a student organization, organize study groups, and even plan a date on Saturday night!

Welcome to the Pivotal Response Treatment Blog!

This blog provides information for anyone interested in learning more about Drs. Robert and Lynn Koegel and their highly acclaimed research-based intervention for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders. PRT® is a naturalistic intervention model derived from Applied Behavior Analysis or ABA. 

PRT® targets pivotal areas of a child's development, such as motivation, responsivity to multiple cues, self-management, and social initiations.  These skills are pivotal because they are the foundational skills upon which learners with ASD can make widespread and generalized improvements in many other areas.  By targeting these critical areas, PRT® results in widespread, collateral improvements in communication, social, and behavioral domains. 

Specific research based procedures including child choice, task variation, interspersing maintenance and acquisition tasks, rewarding attempts, and the use of direct natural reinforcers, are incorporated to make the intervention extremely powerful and efficient. The goal of PRT® is to move the child with ASD towards a more typical developmental trajectory, through individualized intervention objectives based on the child's needs.

PRT® targets each core area of development, and focuses on increasing motivation for learning in children with ASD. PRT® is implemented in the natural environments of the child  (e.g. home, community, and school) and emphasizes parent education so that family members are agents of intervention, and learning can be embedded across daily routines.

According to the studies that form the evidence base for PRT®, children with Autism Spectrum Disorders aged from 2 to 16 years have benefited from PRT® intervention. Research has shown that the use of motivational techniques inside PRT’s® teaching framework can lead to 85-90% of children with autism, who begin intervention before the age of 5, developing verbal communication as a primary mode of communication. Researchers have also identified specific behavioral characteristics associated with favorable responses to the teaching practices. Precursors related to positive outcomes thus far, include increased use of social initiations, less social avoidance, more toy play, and stereotypic language.

Drs. Robert and Lynn Koegel from the University of California, Santa Barbara are the developers of Pivotal Response Treatment®. Over the past 30 years, the Koegels, their graduate students, and their colleagues have published over 200 research articles in peer-reviewed journals that support the effectiveness of PRT®, and have written over 30 books and manuals. PRT® is listed by the National Research Council as one of the ten model programs for autism, and is one of four scientifically based practices for autism intervention in the U.S. (Simpson, 2005).

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