Treatments for students with autism spectrum disorders
(ASD) have traditionally included clinical, artificial settings and
nonfunctional materials (Koegel, Koegel, & McNerney, 2001). Does
the following scenario sound familiar?
Mr. A: [puts a blue and a red card in front of Shantelle]
“Touch red”
Shantelle: [staring at the ceiling fan]
Mr. A: [hand-over-hand prompts Shantelle to touch
the red card] “That’s red”
Sound boring to you? Surely, children with ASD feel the
same. Imagine this scenario continued 30 more times in one sitting,
and repeated for nine more colors.
Current research into strategies for children with ASD
indicates that the most efficient and effective interventions for these
children include the following characteristics: (a) attention to student
motivation, (b) teaching the student to respond to a variety of cues,
(c) self-instruction procedures, and (d) teaching the student to learn
through initiating to others (Koegel et al., 2001). These are known
as pivotal areas of instruction for individuals with ASD and make up
an approach called Pivotal Response Intervention (PRI).
This module concentrates on what PRI is, who PRI
may be appropriate for, key elements of PRI, and steps to take when
using a PRI approach. Read on to see how Mr. A learns to use a more
naturalistic, effective, and efficient approach to teaching Shantelle,
his first grade student.
