Introduction to Pivotal Response Treatment

Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) refers to an approach to autism intervention that combines applied behavior analysis (ABA) with a developmental approach. The goal of PRT is to create learning opportunities in a child’s natural environments, using the child’s interests and individual needs.

Pivotal areas are areas that, when targeted for intervention, facilitate improvements in skill areas beyond those specifically taught in intervention. Once skills in the pivotal areas are mastered, there are often widespread improvements noted. The five pivotal areas that have currently been identified are motivation, responsivity to multiple cues, self-management, self-initiations, and empathy.

Each of these pivotal areas will be described in future blog posts.

Reference

"Pivotal Response Treatment for Autism: Communication, Social, & Academic Development" by Robert L. Koegel and Lynn Kern Koegel. Publisher: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.