Early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) has been repeatedly shown to be an effective means of stimulating development of young children with autism. From the child’s perspective, there are always two significant changes when an EIBI program is introduced into the home. The first is that there are a lot more reinforcing activities now available to the child. The second is that there are a lot more instructions delivered to the child. These two changes interact in dynamic ways, sometimes resulting in very fast learning of important concepts and skills without much protest from the child. With other children, problem behavior may worsen under these early EIBI conditions when home-based teachers and parents are trying to teach the many things children of typical development learn through largely unstructured interactions. If problem behavior occurs during EIBI, we highly recommend a practical functional assessment and treatment process be initiated. Mary-Kate Carey, M.S., BCBA of the New England Center for Children (NECC) describes the beginning stage of this process.

Click here to see Mary-Kate’s presentation.