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Early intensive behavioral intervention: Emergence of a consumer-driven service model

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Abstract

Parents are becoming influential stimulators and shapers of public policy in regard to educational services for their children. Increasingly, this advocacy has created a controversy about the role of applied behavior analysis as a foundation for early intensive behavioral intervention in autism. Uncertainties exist in policy regarding the role of behavior analysis in early intervention and the capacity of behavior analysis to field a trained work force. Based on contacts with parents of children with autism and information available in a variety of forms on the Internet, there is a rising demand for fundamentally better early intervention services that are available and accessible, provide active intervention, and are based on principles of behavior analysis. Contemporary movements in special and early education, however, appear to be nonconducive to scientifically based treatments, and school districts seem hostile to an increasing role for behavior analysis and to the establishment of services that are responsive to changing parental priorities for the education of their children with autism and related disorders.

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  1. Independent Living in the Capital District, Inc., 627 Plymouth Avenue, Schenectady, New York, 12308-3507, USA

    John W. Jacobson

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Correspondence to John W. Jacobson.

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An earlier version of this article was presented as the presidential address at the annual conference of the New York State Association for Behavior Analysis, Tarrytown, New York, September 1997. Development of this article was supported in part by Independent Living in the Capital District; the perspectives and conclusions presented here do not necessarily reflect those of the sponsoring organization. I thank an anonymous reviewer for providing particularly salient and effective feedback in the revision of this article.

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Jacobson, J.W. Early intensive behavioral intervention: Emergence of a consumer-driven service model. BEHAV ANALYST 23, 149–171 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392008

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