Comparison of community-based verbal behavior and pivotal response treatment programs for young children with autism spectrum disorder

• We compared two early intervention programs for children with autism.
• Fourteen children in each program were matched by age and pre-treatment IQ.
• Standardized assessments were conducted at baseline and 12 months later.
• Results showed significant changes in IQ, language, and problem behavior scores.
• Both programs hold promise as effective autism early intervention approaches.

This research compared the outcomes of a community-based group program based on the verbal behavior approach to early intervention (Sautter and LeBlanc, 2006 and Sundberg and Michael, 2001) to the outcomes of a program based on Pivotal Response Treatment (Bryson et al., 2007 and Koegel and Koegel, 2006). Fourteen preschool children with autism spectrum disorder in each program were matched by baseline chronological age and cognitive score. Assessments were conducted at the initiation of treatment and 12 months later to measure cognitive, receptive and expressive language, and adaptive behavior skills, as well as problem behavior and parenting stress. Results for both groups showed statistically significant changes in cognitive scores, receptive and expressive language age equivalents, and problem behavior scores. Significant results were not found for either adaptive behavior or parenting stress scores. Changes in cognitive and adaptive behavior scores were similar to those reported in published studies of applied behavior analytic programs of similar intensity. Study limitations and recommendations for future research are provided. Although additional research is needed to examine the long-term effectiveness of the programs examined in this study, it appears that both hold promise as effective early intervention approaches that are also relatively cost-effective.