Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention (UCLA YAP Model) and Autism Ranking:

Aims and Claims

Aims

The aim of the intervention is to build positive behaviours such as language and socialisation, and to reduce unwanted behaviours such as self-stimulatory or aggressive behaviours.

According to Eikeseth, Hayward and Gale (2011)

"It is assumed that children with autism fail to understand what well-meaning adults have been able to communicate successfully to their typically developing children. As a consequence, such children have encountered continuous failure in learning situations and understandably react to such frustrations with tantrums and other attempts to escape or avoid future failures. Every effort is therefore made to construct a teaching situation so as to maximise the child's success and minimise failure. This is accomplished by simplifying requests, prompting the child to make the correct response and providing abundant reinforcement for socially appropriate behaviours. At the same time, failures are minimised. Ensuring the child's motivation to participate in the learning process is a key element in behavioural interventions."

Claims

- Research claims

A number of research studies have made significant claims for the EIBI – UCLA YAP Model. For example

• Lovaas et al (1987) claimed that 47% of children treated in his original study functioned normally and were able to attend mainstream school by the age of 5. He also claimed that a further 40% of the children made substantial progress but still displayed autistic characteristics. In addition he claimed that those children who followed the programme for two years or more gained an average of 30 IQ compared with the other groups in his study who made no IQ gains.
• Eikeseth et al (2002) claimed that "Results suggest that some 4- to 7-year-olds may make large gains with intensive behavioral treatment, that such treatment can be successfully implemented in school settings, and that specific aspects of behavioral treatment (not just its intensity) may account for favorable outcomes."
• Granpeesheh et al (2009) claimed that "Our study corroborates the finding that some children with autism who receive early intensive behavioral intervention achieve functioning in the average range."

However most researchers state that while the EIBI – UCLA YAP Model may produce significant results in some participants, individual response to treatment is variable and these programmes do not result in improvements in all areas of functioning.

-  Anecdotal claims

The Lovaas Institute website, accessed on 15 June 2016, claims

“With early intervention, a sizable minority of children diagnosed with autism, pervasive developmental disorders and related developmental disorders have been able to achieve normal educational and intellectual functioning by 7 years of age.

“These children have been mainstreamed into regular classrooms and have advanced successfully through the school system without additional assistance. They show significant increases in intellectual functioning and perform within normal ranges on standardized tests of intelligence. They also appear indistinguishable from their peers in measures of social and emotional functioning.

“Even for children who do not reach the level of typically-developing peers, their quality of life is greatly improved from what they learn; sizable decreases in inappropriate behaviors and acquisition of basic language skills are most often achieved. These children become more active members of their family and are usually able to learn in less restrictive special education classrooms or supervised regular education classrooms”.

Updated

16 Jun 2022

Last Review

01 Sep 2016

Next Review

01 Jan 2023