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Comprehensive Guide to Autism pp 117–137Cite as

Early and Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) in Autism

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Abstract

Early and Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) is an evidence-based intervention using principles and procedures from Applied Behavior Analysis to teach adaptive behaviors to young children with autism spectrum disorders. Several outcome studies have indicated that the best outcome is achieved when treatment is started as early as possible (before the age of 5) and with a high intensity (30–40 h per week). The treatment is carried out by parents and teachers under supervision by a professional and consists of identifying the skills that the child lacks, breaking these down into components and teaching those component behaviors separately. This enables the child to succeed more easily. The child is provided with guidance to learn novel behaviors, and this help is then phased out until the child can perform the target skills independently. The complexity of tasks is gradually increased as the child progresses, so that the child can master each consecutive step. Much emphasis is placed on generalization of taught skills, meaning that skills taught in an EIBI program must be functional for the child in everyday life. EIBI consists of both one-to-one discrete trial teaching for basic skills such as imitation (verbal and motor), expressive and receptive language, and matching, and less structured teaching such as naturalistic and incidental teaching working on all areas of functioning, such as communication, self-help skills, and independent functioning. From a behavior analytic view, autism can be seen as a biologically based disorder related to innate social and sensory motivation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral Sciences, Oslo and Akershus University College, St. Olavs plass, 0130, Oslo, Norway

    Lars Klintwall

  2. Department of Behavioral Science, Oslo & Akershus University College, St. Olavs plass, 0130, Oslo, Norway

    Svein Eikeseth

Authors
  1. Lars Klintwall
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  2. Svein Eikeseth
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lars Klintwall .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Westminster, Faculty of Science & Technology, London, United Kingdom

    Vinood B. Patel

  2. Nutritional Sciences Division and Genomics Centre, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

    Victor R. Preedy

  3. Faculty of Society and Health, Buckinghamshire New University, Middlesex, United Kingdom

    Colin R. Martin

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Klintwall, L., Eikeseth, S. (2014). Early and Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) in Autism. In: Patel, V., Preedy, V., Martin, C. (eds) Comprehensive Guide to Autism. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4788-7_129

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4788-7_129

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-4787-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-4788-7

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

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