Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Rooted in both ABA and developmental theory, Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBI) are some of today's most effective, evidence-based, and widely used interventions for autism spectrum disorder. Prepare tomorrow's autism professionals for success in the field with this graduate-level textbook, the first comprehensive introduction to the principles and practices of NDBI.

Future professionals will start with a clear and detailed overview of NDBI, examining how these approaches use natural environments and personal interests to motivate the child and bring about lasting improvements in skills and behavior. Then they'll explore the foundational principles of NDBI, take an in-depth look at the most successful NDBI models, and learn how to use specific NDBI strategies to improve child outcomes.

Prepare future professionals to:

• Identify quality indicators of NDBI programs
• Understand how proven NDBI models, including Pivotal Response Treatment, Early Start Denver, Enhanced Milieu Teaching, and Project ImPACT fit in the NDBI framework
• Select meaningful skills to teach children within their natural environment
• Write measurable and attainable goals across developmental domains
• Empower parents to use NDBI strategies during everyday interactions with their children
• Use NDBI strategies to support children in inclusive environments
• Enhance children's communication skills, social competence, and play skills
• Support positive behavior and self-regulation using an NDBI framework
• Work NDBI strategies into school-based activities and lessons

COMPANION MATERIALS: Enhance your instruction with downloadable versions of the datasheets and other forms, sample syllabi to help you integrate this book into your course, PowerPoint decks that summarize key takeaways from the chapters to guide lectures, and a 158-question multiple-choice test bank to help you build course assessments and quizzes.

Matthew J. Segall, Ph.D., Emory Autism Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA. Dr. Segall is Program Director for Education and Transition Services at the Emory Autism Center, as well as Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in the Emory University School of Medicine. He is a licensed psychologist in the State of Georgia. Dr. Segall completed his bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of Virginia and his doctoral degree in school psychology at the University of Georgia. His predoctoral internship and postdoc-toral fellowship were both completed at the Emory Autism Center, while also completing a fellowship at Georgia State University in the Georgia LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities) program. Dr. Segall's professional interests include educator and professional training, supporting students in inclusive educational settings, and transition planning.

Jessica Suhrheinrich, Ph.D., Department of Special Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA. Dr. Suhrheinrich is an assistant professor of special education at San Diego State University and an investigator with the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center. Broadly, her research aims to improve com-munity-based services for children with ASD.

Jennifer B. Symon, Ph.D., BCBA, Special Education and Counseling, California State University Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Symon is a professor in the Division of Special Education and Counseling at California State University, Los Angeles. She coordinates the programs in ASD and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Her research interests include interventions for parents, teachers, para-professionals, and peers who support students with ASD.

Connie Wong, Ph.D., Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC. Dr. Wong is a research scientist at the Frank Porter Graham Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Adjunct Professor in Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education at California State University, Los Angeles. Her research focuses on young children with or at risk for autism and other developmental delays and their families.

Director, Marcus Autism Center
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Emory University School of Medicine

Yvonne Bruinsma, Ph.D., BCBA-D, In STEPPS and In STEPPS Academy, Irvine, CA. Dr. Bruinsma is CEO and founder of In STEPPS and In STEPPS Academy in Irvine, California, a behavioral health agency and a nonprofit private school for children with autism in California. She is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and received her doctorate in special education, developmental disabilities, and risk studies in 2004. She has been working with families and teaching others how to work with families by using NDBI strategies for over 20 years. Yvonne’s focus is to blend research and reality in the highest quality treatment in a community setting.

Laura Schreibman, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of California, San Diego (UCSD), 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093. Dr. Laura Schreibman directs the UCSD Autism Intervention Research Program, a federally funded research program focusing on the experimental analysis and treatment of autism. A co-developer of Pivotal Response Training, her general research interests include naturalistic behavioral intervention strategies, development of individualized treatment protocols, analysis of language and attentional deficits, generalization of behavior change, parent training, and issues of assessment. She is the author of three books and more than 120 research articles and book chapters.

Aubyn C. Stahmer, Ph.D., BCBA, Research Scientist, Psychologist, Rady Children’s Hospital, 3020 Children’sWay,MC5033, San Diego, California 92123. Dr. Stahmer is a research scientist and clinical psychologist at Rady Children’s Hospital and the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center. She has published many scholarly articles on inclusion and early intervention services in the area of autism. Her current interests include the study of early intervention systems for children with autism and the translation of evidence-based practices into community settings.

Aritz Aranbarri, Ph.D., The MIND Institute, University of California (UC) Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA. Dr. Aranbarri is a clinical licensed psychologist specialized as a developmental neuropsychologist (Early Start Denver Model certified therapist) and holds a Ph.D. in environmental epidemiology and early neurodevelop-ment. He received postdoctoral training in Autism Early Intervention Community Research at the UC Davis MIND Institute mentored by Dr. Aubyn C. Stahmer and now coordinates autism research at the SJD Barcelona Children's Hospital

Lauren Brookman-Frazee, Ph.D., San Diego Department of Psychiatry, University of California, La Jolla, CA. Dr. Brookman-Frazee is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, Associate Director of the Child and Adoles-cent Services Research Center, and Research Director at the Autism Discovery In-stitute at Rady Children’s Hospital–San Diego. She specializes in parent-mediated interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other develop-mental and mental health problems. Dr. Brookman-Frazee's research involves partnering with mental health and education system leaders, providers, and families to develop, test, and implement evidence-based interventions in community and school-based settings.

Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D., Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Pediatrics, and Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University, Durham, NC. Dr. Dawson is Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Pediatrics, and Psychology & Neuroscience at Duke University. She is Past-President of the International Society for Autism Research and a member of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee. She is Director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, an interdisciplinary autism research and treatment center, and Chair of the Faculty Governance Committee for the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences. Dr. Dawson is Director of a National Institutes of Health Autism Center of Excellence Award at Duke focused on understanding early detection, neural bases, and treat-ment of autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Dr. Dawson has published extensively on early detection, brain function, and treatment of autism. With Sally Rogers, she developed the Early Start Denver Model, a comprehensive early behavioral intervention for young children with autism. She completed a Ph.D. in developmental/child clinical psychology from University of Washington and clinical internship at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Amy L Donaldson, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech & Hearing Sciences at Portland State University. Her research focuses broadly on social communication and perception of social competence in individuals on the autism spectrum and neurotypical individuals. Dr. Donaldson examines intervention efficacy, pre- and post-professional development, the influence of context on performance, and the experiences of neurodivergent individuals in different contexts.

Rachel K. Earl, Ph.D., Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA. Dr. Earl earned her Ph.D. in school psychology at the University of Washington. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Seattle Children's Hospital–Autism Center, specializing in diagnosis and treatment of ASD.

Department of Psychology, Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, MI. Mrs. Frost is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at MSU and a member of the MSU Autism Research Lab. Her research focuses on measuring intervention response and implementation, as well as understanding the common elements of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBI).

Kyle M. Frost, M.A., Department of Psychology, Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, MI. Mrs. Frost is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology at MSU and a member of the MSU Autism Research Lab. Her research focuses on measuring intervention response and implementation, as well as understanding the common elements of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBI).

Grace W. Gengoux, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA. Dr. Gengoux is a clinical psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst who directs the Autism Intervention Program within the Stanford Autism Center at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. Dr. Gengoux received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of California Santa Barbara and completed her clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center. Her research specifically focuses on the development and evaluation of NDBI for young children with ASD. Dr. Gengoux's previous publications have focused on models for enhancing functional communication and social development and for providing effective parent training.

Laura J. Hall, Ph.D., Department of Special Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA. Dr. Hall is Professor and Chair of Special Education at San Diego State University. She has been working with individuals with ASD and their families for over 35 years. The focus of her research and teaching has been on the transfer of research into practice, or facilitating the implementation of evidence-based practices by supporting educators and paraeducators. She is the author of the widely used textbook, Autism Spectrum Disorders: From Theory to Practice (2009, Pearson.)

Brrooke Ingersoll, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing, MI. Dr. Ingersoll is an associate professor of clinical psychology at MSU, where she is the director of the MSU Autism Research Lab. She is also a licensed psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Dr. Ingersoll's research focuses on the development, evaluation, and dissemination of social-communication interventions for individuals with ASD. She has published multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on ASD and is the coauthor of Teaching Social Communication to Children with Autism (with A. Dvortcsak; 2010, Guilford Press), an NDBI parent training curriculum for children with ASD.

Allison B. Jobin, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Child and Adolescent Services Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, Rady Children's Hospital San Diego, San Diego, CA. Dr. Jobin is a licensed clinical psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst at the Autism Discovery Institute of Rady Children's Hospital San Diego and study manager in the Department of Psychiatry of the University of California, San Diego, and Child and Adolescent Services Research Center. Dr. Jobin has over 15 years of experience in the delivery, supervision, and evaluation of evidence-based interventions for children with ASD and their families. She specializes in parent-mediated treatment models and NDBI. Her research focus includes evaluating and improving treatment for children with ASD, as well as methods for effective implementation in community settings.

Elizabeth A. Karp, M.S., Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Ms. Karp is a doctoral candidate in child psychology at the University of Washington. She is passionate about identifying ways to provide family-centered care for families with a child with ASD. She is particularly interested in caregivers’ experiences as they implement interventions with their young children.

Rosy Matos Bucio, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Santa Barbara SELPA, Santa Barbara, CA. Dr. Matos Bucio is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst who completed her doctoral training in 2005 at the University of California, Santa Barbara. For over 20 years, her research and professional practice has focused on using the motivational strategies of NDBI to support individuals with ASD across the life span and disseminate best practices to families and professionals.

Erin McNerney, Ph.D., BCBA-D, In STEPPS and McNerney & Associates, Irvine, CA. Dr. McNerney is a licensed clinical psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst Doctoral specializing in ASD, developmental disabilities, and behavior challenges. She has spent the past 2 decades teaching and implementing Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) and providing behavior-based parent training. She cur-rently provides psychological assessment and therapy to support the mental health needs of individuals with ASD and their families.

Melina Melgarejo, Ph.D., San Diego State University, San Diego, CA. Dr. Melgarejo received her Ph.D. in education with an emphasis in special education, disabilities, and risk studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is a postdoctoral scholar at San Diego State University and the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center. She is currently involved in research on the multi-level factors affecting the use of evidence-based practices for children with ASD within schools.

Jennifer Reinehr, Psy.D., TEACCH Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC. Dr. Reinehr is a clinical assistant professor and staff psychologist at the TEACCH Center with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is specialized in diagnostic and developmental assessment of young children with ASD. For over 10 years, she has provided clinical oversight for an integrated preschool program for young children with and without ASD. Dr. Reinehr continues to work toward practical application of evidence-based practices in an individual's natural settings.

Sarah R. Rieth, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Child and Adolescent Services Research Center, Department of Child and Family Development, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA. Dr. Rieth is Assistant Professor of Child and Family Development at San Diego State University and an investigator at the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center. She received her Ph.D. from the Psychology Department at UCSD in 2012. Her research focuses on intervention for children with ASD and their families and the delivery of high-quality intervention in community settings. Dr. Rieth is a licensed clinical psychologist and specializes in training others and delivering intervention for children with ASD, ages 12 months to 10 years. Her current work involves training community providers to deliver parent-mediated interventions and examining student outcomes from community-based trials of evidence-based treatment models.