Introduction and Overview

The PaTTAN Autism Initiative, Applied Behavior Analysis Supports is a collaborative effort to expand provision of effective science-based interventions for children with autism in the PA Public Education system.

Collaborating participants include the Tuscarora Intermediate Unit #11 who administers the Project, local school agencies as the providers of direct service to children, the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) as a source of technical advice, and importantly, parents as partners. The PaTTAN Autism Initiative, Applied Behavior Analysis Supports is funded through the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Bureau of Special Education.

The PaTTAN Autism Initiative, Applied Behavior Analysis Supports was initiated in the 2002/2003 school year in two classrooms at the Luzerne County Intermediate Unit 18 as a result of the efforts of a parent support group in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Since its inception, the Project has continued to grow. In the 2009-2010 school year the Project had expanded service to 102 classrooms serving 612 students.

Independent of the project, Lancaster-Lebanon IU 13 had developed Early Intervention (preschool) classes using an Applied Behavior Analytic (ABA) |Verbal Behavior (VB) model of instruction. Many of their procedures were incorporated into The PaTTAN Autism Initiative, Applied Behavior Analysis Supports design.

Simultaneously, other educational agencies demonstrated a growing interest in ABA and VB for public special education programs that serve children with autism, in part due to advocacy of parent groups and an increased public awareness of ABA/VB resulting from workshops provided by various providers of ABA/VB services.

The PaTTAN Autism Initiative, Applied Behavior Analysis Supports is committed to applying the theoretical constructs of B. F. Skinner’s model of verbal behavior and current verbal behavior research to design language interventions across participating sites. The Project seeks to expand provision of effective science-based interventions for children with autism in the PA Public Education/Special Education system, and to establish a core set of classrooms incorporating Applied Behavior Analytic-based treatments.

Participating sites receive consultation from Project consultants on a regular basis. There are a total of 25 Project consultants serving participating sites. 9 of the Project consultants are parents of children with Autism. 21 consultants are Board Certified Behavior Analysts; 3 are Board Certified Associate Behavior Analysts) Participating educational agencies also provide consultative support to the classes. In 2009-2010, the project was supported by 52 Internal Coaches (school district and IU personnel; 24 of which are either BCBA or BCaBA with 8 in process of obtaining BCBA or BCaBA.) The internal coaches receive ongoing training through the Project and work collaboratively with Project consultants so that independent implementation of applied behavior analytic programming can occur in their districts or IUs.