Pivotal Response Treatment® is a highly acclaimed research-based intervention for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). PRT® is a naturalistic intervention model derived from Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).

PRT® targets pivotal areas of a child's development, such as motivation, responsivity to multiple cues, self-management, and social initiations. These skills are pivotal because they are the foundational behaviors upon which learners with ASD can make widespread and generalized improvements in many other areas. By targeting these critical behaviors, PRT® results in widespread, collateral improvements in communication, social, and behavioral domains.

Specific research-based motivational procedures including child choice, task variation, interspersing maintenance and acquisition tasks, rewarding attempts, and the use of direct natural reinforcers, are incorporated to make the intervention extremely powerful and efficient. The goal of PRT® is to move the child with ASD towards a more typical developmental trajectory, through individualized intervention objectives based on the child's needs.

PRT® targets each core area of development, and focuses on increasing motivation to engage and learn for children with ASD. PRT® is implemented in the natural environments of the child  (e.g., home, community, and school) and emphasizes parent education to empower family members to become agents of intervention, so that learning can be embedded across daily routines.

According to the studies that form the evidence base for PRT®, children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) aged from 2 to 16 years have benefited from PRT® intervention. Research has shown that the use of motivational techniques within the PRT® teaching framework can lead to 85-90% of children with autism (who begin intervention before the age of 5) developing verbal communication as a primary mode of communication. Researchers have also identified specific behavioral characteristics associated with favorable responses to the teaching practices. Precursors related to positive outcomes thus far, include increased use of social initiations and more toy play as well as decreased social avoidance and stereotypic language.