Training Teachers to Use Pivotal Response Training With Children With Autism

Abstract

Although evidence-based practices (EBPs) for educating children with autism, such as pivotal response training (PRT), exist, teachers often lack adequate training to use these practices. The current investigation examined the efficacy of a 6-hour group workshop plus individual coaching for training 20 teachers to use PRT. Results indicate that the workshop alone was only effective in training 15% of the teachers to meet mastery criteria for PRT. The majority of teachers, however, showed additional improvement following individual coaching. The findings suggest that attending a group workshop is insufficient training for most teachers to demonstrate mastery of PRT, but a modest amount of time spent in individual coaching with observation and feedback helps the majority of teachers master PRT techniques. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

Pivotal Response Treatment for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review

“…The results of this systematic review further demonstrated a large variability in the PRT techniques that were implemented across studies and revealed that only two studies incorporated all PRT techniques (i.e., Minjarez et al 2011;Suhrheinrich 2011). In particular, "gaining the child's attention and using contingent reinforcement" were often not incorporated or not specifically reported.…”

“…In 29 studies, reinforcement of attempts at target behaviors was used. Two studies incorporated all seven PRT techniques (Minjarez et al 2011;Suhrheinrich 2011). Several studies incorporated additional intervention strategies, such as multiple cues (e.g., Pierce and Schreibman 1997b), modeling of target response (Stahmer 1995), prompting (e.g., Koegel et al 2012), prompt fading (e.g., Koegel et al 2010a), time delay (Koegel et al 1998a), and narrative play (e.g., Harper et al 2008).…”

“…Of these studies, six studies evaluated the effects of staff training on staff members' fidelity of implementation of PRT or NLP (Gianoumis et al 2012;Huskens et al 2012;Robinson 2011;Seiverling et al 2010;Suhrheinrich 2011;Suhrheinrich et al 2007). Additionally, Gianoumis et al (2012) evaluated the effect of staff training on staff members' ability to conduct a stimulus preference assessment.…”

Evidence-Based Practices in The Public School: The Role of Preservice Teacher Training

“…Special education licensure requirements are also not consistent from state to state leading to varying levels of knowledge for teacher candidates in the area related to meeting the needs of students with autism. This leaves educators unprepared to successfully meet the needs of students with ASD (Suhrheinrich, 2011). This lack of preparation also places teachers at a disadvantage because all teachers, in special and general education, will most likely have a student with ASD in their classroom and they need to be well versed in strategies to meet their unique needs (Loiacono & Valenti, 2010).…”

The Efficiency of a Selective Training Program on the Development of Some Social Skills of Saudi Students with Autism

“…Stahmer (2007) showed that more than 70% to 80% of the teachers in the southern province of California are using PRT programs. Since PRT has been developed for the use in the natural environment, the classroom is an appropriate context for the application of PRT (Suhrheinrich, 2011).…”