Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention
Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention is a type of Applied Behavioral Analysis that is primarily focused on children under the age of five years. The latest research has proved that intensive behavioral interventions work really well with all ages of children but kids under two years are likely to get the maximum gains. Not only children affected with autism are incorporated in one to one therapy for 20 to 40 hours but families are also involved in this process so that EIBI proves to be successful. In this way, children get as much exposure as possible
How Does EIBI Work?
Texas Cares About Autism performs Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention for children under the age of 5-years-old. We use evidence-based principles based from Applied Behavior Analysis to teach adaptive behaviors to young children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Research shows us that the best outcome is achieved when treatment is started as early as possible, and with a high intensity (30-40 hours per week) of care.
EIBI is carried out by parents and teachers under supervision by a Applied Behavior Analyst and consists of identifying the skills that the child lacks, breaking these down into components and teaching those component behaviors separately. This enables the child to succeed more easily.
The child is provided with guidance to learn novel behaviors, and this help is then phased out until the child can perform the target skills independently. The complexity of tasks is gradually increased as the child progresses, so that the child can master each consecutive step. Much emphasis is placed on generalization of taught skills, meaning that skills taught in an EIBI program must be functional for the child in everyday life. EIBI consists of both one-to-one discrete trial teaching for basic skills such as imitation (verbal and motor), expressive and receptive language, and matching, and less structured teaching such as naturalistic and incidental teaching working on all areas of functioning, such as communication, self-help skills, and independent functioning. From a behavior analytic view, autism can be seen as a biologically based disorder related to innate social and sensory motivation.