Santa Barbara, CA – UC Santa Barbara is hosting its 7th annual Pivotal Response Treatment conference for Autism Spectrum Disorders on September 18, and 19.
The conference will be held at the Corwin Pavilion and will cover topics including the characteristics of ASD; Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) service delivery model; motivational procedures for teaching beginning verbal communication and functional behavioral assessment.
The keynote speakers are Dr. Robert Koegel and Dr. Lynn Koegel, developers of the PRT model which was developed at UCSB. This targets the pivotal areas of a child’s development, with some of the most common areas including social initiations and self-management.
PRT is a naturalistic intervention and is empirically supported. The technique helps to lessen the severity of autism symptoms by engaging children in activities that they enjoy, which will open the door to more positive interactions.
Lynn Koegel, who is also the director of the campus’s Broad Asperger Center said:
“ Participants can learn effective ‘hands-on’ strategies they can implement immediately after attending the conference. PRT is an effective evidence-based intervention that produces incredibly rapid gains.”
This conference is open to families, school staff, and other professionals. Additional information can be found on the UCSB website.
The original article by Andrea Estrada on the UCSB website can be read here