Pivotal Response Treatment

Abstract

Pivotal response treatment (PRT) was developed based on the theory of learned helplessness, and procedures were specifically designed to increase motivation. Increasing motivation has been shown to produce broad improvements in other areas of sociability, communication, behavior and academic skill building for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is important to note that the effective interventions prior to a focus on the pivotal area of motivation targeted single behaviors individually, making the intervention time-consuming and laborious. Beginning in the early 1980s, our research efforts concentrated on developing procedures to increase motivation, and were directed towards developing techniques that would improve the overall responsiveness, engagement, and affect for children on the autism spectrum. Research indicated that these treatment strategies were individually effective in producing positive behavioral and affective changes for children with ASD. We also found that combining these techniques as a package intervention had a large positive effect on learning and responding in children with autism. Specifically, the combined approach reduced behaviors related to learned helplessness due to an increase in the child's overall level of motivation. In the remainder of this chapter, we will discuss each of these experimentally validated treatment components and provide illustrations for implementing the specific procedures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)