The increase in the rate of autism diagnoses has created a growing demand for teachers who are trained to use effective interventions. Research supports behavioral interventions as effective methods for teaching children with autism, however dissemination of these methods has been problematic. Ineffective training and lack of ongoing support after formal training ends may be to blame. The train-the-trainer (ttt) model, which involves training supervisors to train others, may be ideal for providing cost-effective training and ongoing support to teachers. This study assessed the benefits of using the ttt model to disseminate Pivotal Response Training (prt), an evidence-based practice for educating children with autism, to school settings. A multiple baseline design was conducted across three training groups, each consisting of one school staff member (trainer), three special education teachers, and six students. During baseline, each trainer observed interactions between teacher/student dyads and provided feedback to the teachers. During treatment, trainers learned to implement and assess prt themselves and conducted a workshop to educate teachers on prt. After the teacher-training workshop, trainers continued to observe interactions between teacher/student dyads and provide feedback to teachers during weekly classroom observations. A follow-up assessment was conducted three months after training was complete. Assessments included trainer and teacher ability to implement prt, trainer ability to assess prt and provide feedback, and student language and behavioral changes. All trainers conducted the teacher-training workshop with high adherence to training protocol and met mastery criteria in their ability to implement prt, assess implementation of prt, and provide feedback to teachers. Both trainers' assessment of prt and feedback to teachers were variable during post-workshop classroom observations. Six of the nine teachers mastered all components of prt. The remaining three teachers implemented 89% of the prt components correctly. The majority of trainers and teachers maintained their abilities at follow-up. Students demonstrated limited behavioral change, although this was not unexpected as the intervention was minimal and exposure to other interventions was not controlled for as part of the study. These results provide support for the use of the ttt model as an effective method of disseminating evidence-based practices in school settings. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest llc. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.].
Classroom Pivotal Response Teaching, or CPRT, was developed to help meet the educational needs of young children with autism. CPRT (originally called Pivotal Response Training or Treatment) is a form of naturalistic behavioral intervention, based on theprinciples of applied behavior analysis (ABA), and is soundly supported in the scientific literature. This manual will describe the components of CPRT and how to implement the approach in your classroom. Although this manual is geared primarily toward preschool through grade 3 teachers, CPRT strategies can be used by a variety of professionals. Speech and language pathologists, occupational therapists, behavior specialists, psychologists and other teaching professionals may all find CPRT a valuable strategy. Additionally, the techniques in this manual may be useful with typically developing children and those with a variety of special needs. Most children can benefit from this structured, systematic approach that utilizes naturally occurring teaching opportunities. One of the strengths of this approach is that it is adaptable to a wide range of teaching goals and service settings. All who teach are encouraged to integrate CPRT into their existing strategies as often as possible"--Provided by publisher.
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