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About Intensive Behavioral Treatment - Historical Foundations & Reasearch Age & Treatment Intensity - Treatment Process - Curriculum - Treatment Team Stages of Therapy - Evaluation - What Makes a Good Program? Job Descriptions - Our Directors
PHILOSOPHY AND ADAPTATION OF THE TREATMENT MODEL Our directors were intimately involved in the treatment program developed at the UCLA Young Autism Project during the period of 1975-1987. Our current work incorporates the knowledge gained from the University research clinic and combines it with our more recent experience delivering services in community based settings. As knowledge about effective behavioral treatments continues to advance, we have also made innovations to increase accessibility to greater numbers of children in a variety of settings. We have extended the application of this specialized teaching methodology to children who are older. While it is clear that the optimal time to begin intervention is at the preschool age, there are many older children who have greatly benefitted from intensive behavioral treatment. The collaborative efforts between families, public and private school programs, and other service agencies have made it possible to offer effective treatment to a wide number and variety of children with differing needs. For example, there are many families who reside in areas where qualified professionals with expertise in the treatment of autism are not locally available. However, individuals possessing the personal qualities and motivation can, and have been, recruited, trained and supervised in the provision of effective services. We emphasize a positive and systematic approach to teaching functional skills and reducing behavior problems. We emphasize creativity and flexibility, capitalizing on the resources available for each individual child. While we have found certain teaching techniques to be consistently effective, we also recognize that each person working with a child has their own style and unique contribution to make to the educational treatment process. In the initial treatment phases, it is important that all members of the team adhere consistently to the smallest details of the teaching plan. As the child masters skills, it becomes important to deliberately increase variability in order to facilitate generalization to all persons and settings in the child's natural environment.
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