Applied Behavior Analysis for Children with Autism: The State of the Science
Tristram H. Smith, Ph.D.
Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is the most extensively studied psychoeducational intervention for individuals with autism, but how much do we really know about its efficacy? This presentation will present a framework for developing and validating interventions. The framework will be discussed in connection with research on individual ABA teaching methods and with the more difficult topic of evaluating programs that combine individual teaching methods into a comprehensive package. Of particular interest is early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI), which begins prior to four years of age and involves 20 or more hours per week of individualized ABA instruction for two or more years. Recent EIBI studies will be described, and practical implications for children, families, and providers will be discussed, along with directions for future research.
Tristram Smith, Ph.D., is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC). He served as the research director for the Multisite Young Autism Project, which was a federally-funded study on early, intensive behavioral intervention based on the UCLA/Lovaas model for children with autism. He is also an investigator in in the Center for Studies To Advance Autism Research and Treatment at the University of Rochester, Principal Investigator on a study of parent training and medication for children with autism accompanied by symptoms of ADHD, and Co-Principal Investigator of the Rochester site in the Autism Treatment Network. He has authored or co-authored a number of the most widely-cited studies on treatment outcomes for individuals with autism spectrum disorders.