Abstract
Behavioral interventions have become very effective in helping young (preschool) autistic children. This chapter describes these children, the behavioral interventions used for them, the philosophy underlying the interventions, and the findings and implications of a treatment study on such interventions. The treatment study was carried out by our research team at the Young Autism Project in the Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, which has concerned itself mostly with the treatment of autistic children less than 4 years old. Though the study focused on autistic children, it may also be relevant for other young, disadvantaged children; this possibility will be explored. First some statements about the general context and philosophy within which we have approached our work.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Ackerman, A. B. (1980). The contribution of punishment to the treatment of preschool aged children. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.
American Psychiatric Association (1980). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
American Psychiatric Association (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
Anderson, S. R., & Avery, D. (1986, May). Home-based training for families with preschool-aged autistic children. In Parent training: Models and evaluation of outcome. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the American Association on Mental Deficiency, Denver, CO.
Barlow, D. H., Hayes, S. C., & Nelson, R. O. (1984). The scientist-practitioner: Research and accountability in clinical and educational settings. Elmsford, NY: Pergamon Press.
Bayley, N. (1969). Bayley Scales of Infant Development. New York: Psychological Corporation.
Boring, E. G. (1927). History of experimental psychology. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
Brecht, M. L., & Woodward, J. A. (1984). GANOVA: A univariate/multivariate analysis of variance program for the personal computer. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 44, 169–173.
Brown, J. (1969). Adolescent development of children with infantile psychosis. Seminars in Psychiatry, 1, 79–89.
Cattell, P. (1960). The measurement of intelligence of infants and young children. New York: Psychological Corporation.
Churchill, D. W. (1978). Language: The problem beyond conditioning. In M. Rutter & E. Schopler (Eds.), Autism: A reappraisal of concepts and treatment (pp. 71–85). New York: Plenum Press.
DeMyer, M. K., Barton, S., DeMyer, W. E., Norton, J. A., Allen, J., & Steele, R. (1973). Prognosis in autism: A follow-up study. Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 3, 199–246.
DeMyer, M. K., Churchill, D. W., Pontius, W., & Gilkey, K. M. (1971). A comparison of five diagnostic systems for childhood Schizophrenia and infantile autism. Journal of Autism and Childhood schizophrenia, 1, 175–189.
DeMyer, M. K., Hingtgen, J. N., & Jackson, R. K. (1981). Infantile autism reviewed: A decade of research. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 7, 388–451.
Doll, E. A. (1953). The measurement of social competence. Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis Educational Test Bureau.
Dunn, L. M. (1981). Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised. Circle River, MI: American Guidance Service.
Eisenberg, L. (1956). The autistic child in adolescence. American Journal of Psychiatry, 112, 607–612.
Fenske, E. C., Zalenski, S., Krantz, P. J., & McClannahan, L. E. (1985). Age at intervention and treatment outcome for autistic children in a comprehensive intervention program. Analysis and Intervention in Developmental Disabilities, 5, 7–31.
Ferster, C. B. (1961). Positive reinforcement and behavioral deficits of autistic children. Child Development, 32, 437–456.
Folstein, S., & Rutter, M. (1977). Infantile autism: A genetic study of 21 twin pairs. Journal of Child Psychology, Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 18, 297–321.
Freeman, B. J., Ritvo, E. R., Needleman, R., & Yokota, A. (1985). The stability of cognitive and linguistic parameters in autism: A 5-year study. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 290–311.
Garber, H., & Heber, F. R. (1977). The Milwaukee Project: Indications of the effectiveness of early intervention in preventing mental retardation. In P. Mittler (Ed.), Research to practice in mental retardation: Vol. 1. Care and intervention (pp. 119–127). Washington, DC: International Association for the Scientific Study of Mental Deficiency.
Gesell, A. (1949). Gesell Developmental Schedules. New York: Psychological Corporation.
Havelkova, M. (1968). Follow-up study of 71 children diagnosed as psychotic in preschool age. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 38, 846–857.
Hewett, F. J. (1965). Teaching speech to an autistic child through operant conditioning. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 35, 927–936.
Hutterlocher, P. R. (1984). Synapse elimination and plasticity in developing human cerebral cortex. Journal of Mental Deficiency, 88, 488–496.
Kanner, L. (1973). Childhood psychosis: Initial studies and new insights. Silver Spring, MD: V. H. Winston.
Kazdin, A. E. (1980). Research design in clinical psychology. New York: Harper & Row.
Kazdin, A. E. (1986). Comparative outcome studies of psychotherapy: Methodological issues and strategies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 95–105.
Kendall, P. C., & Norton-Ford, J. D. (1982). In P. C. Kendall and J. N. Butcher (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in clinical psychology (pp. 429–460). New York: Wiley.
Koegel, R. L., Rincover, A., & Egel, A. C. (1982). Educating and understanding autistic children. San Diego: College-Hill Press.
Leiter, R. G. (1959). Part I of the manual for the 1948 revision of the Leiter International Performance Scale: Evidence of the reliability and validity of the Leiter tests. Psychology Service Center Journal, 11, 1–72.
Lotter, V. (1978). Follow-up studies. In M. Rutter and E. Schopler (Eds.), Autism: A reappraisal of concepts and treatment (pp. 475–496). New York: Plenum Press.
Lovaas, O. I. (1987). Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 3–9.
Lovaas, O. I., Schaeffer, B., & Simmons, J. Q. (1965). Experimental studies in childhood schizophrenia: Building social behavior in autistic children by use of electric shock. Journal of Experimental Research in Personality, 1, 99–109.
Lovaas, O. I., Berberich, J. P., Perloff, B. F., & Schaeffer, B. (1966). Acquisition of imitative speech by schizophrenic children. Science, 151, 705–707.
Lovaas, O. I., Ackerman, A. B., Alexander, D., Firestone, P., Perkins, J., & Young, D. B. (1980). Teaching developmentally disabled children: The ME Book. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.
Lovaas, O. I., Koegel, R. L., Schreibman, L., Carr, E. G., Newsom, C., & Russo, D. C. (in press). Experimental analysis of autistic behaviors. New York: Irvington.
McEachin, J. J. (1987). Outcome of autistic children receiving intensive behavioral treatment: Residual deficits. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.
McEachin, J. J., & Leaf, R. B. (1984, May). The role of punishment in the motivation of autistic children. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Nashville, TN.
Meehl, P. E., & Golden, R. (1982). Taxometric methods. In P. C. Kendall & J. N. Butcher (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in clinical psychology (pp. 127–181). New York: Wiley.
Page, E. B., & Grandon, G. M. (1981). Massive intervention and child intelligence: The Milwaukee Project in critical perspective. Journal of Special Education, 15, 239–256.
Parks, S. L. (1983). The assessment of autistic children: A selective review of available instruments. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 13, 255–268.
Quay, H. C. (1986). A critical analysis of DSM-III as a taxonomy of psychopathology in childhood and adolescence. In T. Millon and G. L. Klerman (Eds.), Contemporary directions in psychopathology (pp. 151–166). New York: The Guilford Press.
Risley, T., & Wolf, M. M. (1967). Establishing functional speech in echolalic children. Behavior Research and Therapy, 5, 73–88.
Ritvo, E. R., & Freeman, B. J. (1984). A medical model of autism: Etiology, pathology and treatment. Pediatric Annals, 13, 298–305.
Rutter, M. (1970). Autistic children: Infancy to adulthood. Seminars in Psychiatry, 2, 435–450.
Rutter, M. (1974). The development of infantile autism. Psychological Medicine, 4, 147–163.
Rutter, M. (1978). Diagnosis and definition. In M. Rutter and E. Schopler (Eds.), Autism: A reappraisal of concepts and treatment (pp. 1–25). New York: Plenum Press.
Schopler, E. (1987). Specific and nonspecific factors in the effectiveness of a treatment system. American Psychologist, 42, 376–383.
Schopler, E., Mesibov, G., & Baker, A. (1982). Evaluation of treatment for autistic children and their parents. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 21, 262–267.
Shen, H. (1985). Prediction of outcome for behavior modification treatment in autism. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of California, Los Angeles.
Simeonnson, R. J., Olley, J. G., & Rosenthal, S. L. (1987). Early intervention for children with autism. In M. J. Guralnik & F. C. Bennett (Eds.), The effectiveness of early intervention for at-risk and handicapped children (pp. 275–296). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
Sparrow, S. S., Bella, D. A., & Cicchetti, D. V. (1984). Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.
Strain, P. S. (1987, May). Early intervention with autistic children: The earlier the better. In G. Olley (Chair), Comprehensive preschool services for autistic children. Symposium conducted at the meeting of the Association for Behavior Analysis, Nashville, TN.
Stutsman, R. (1948). Guide for administering the Merrill-Palmer Scale of Mental Tests. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.
Tanguay, P. E., & Cantor, S. L. (1986). Schizophrenia in children: Introduction. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 25, 591–594.
Thorndike, R. L. (1972). Manual for Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
van Houton, R. (1987). Comparing treatment techniques: A cautionary note. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 20, 109–110.
Wechsler, D. (1967). Manual for the Wechsler Pre-School and Primary Scales of Intelligence. New York: Psychological Corporation.
Wechsler, D. (1974). Manual for the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised. New York: Psychological Corporation.
Wirt, R. D., Seat, P. D., Broen, W. E., & Lachar, D. (1981). Personality Inventory for Children. Los Angeles: Western Psychological Services.
Wolf, M. M., Risley, T., and Mees, H. (1964). Application of operant conditioning procedures to the behavior problems of an autistic child. Behavior Research and Therapy, 1, 305–312.
Zigler, E., & Seitz, V. (1980). Early intervention programs: A reanalysis. School Psychology Review, 9, 354–368.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1988 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lovaas, O.I., Smith, T. (1988). Intensive Behavioral Treatment for Young Autistic Children. In: Lahey, B.B., Kazdin, A.E. (eds) Advances in Clinical Child Psychology. Advances in Clinical Child Psychology, vol 11. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9829-5_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-9829-5_8
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-9831-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-9829-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive