J Autism Dev Disord DOI 10.

1007/s10803-012-1572-2

BOOK REVIEW

R. L. Koegel and L. K. Koegel: The PRT Pocket Guide: Pivotal Response Treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorders
Paul H. Brooks, Baltimore, 2012, 200 pp, ISBN 978-1-59857-105-9, $19.95 (paper)
Pamela Ventola

Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) is an empirically supported naturalistic treatment approach for children with autism spectrum disorders that is derived from Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). It targets pivotal areas of development, such as motivation, social initiations, and responsivity, with the idea that improvements in these pivotal areas will lead to widespread and generalized improvements in many other areas of development as well. The PRT Pocket Guide provides a comprehensive yet highly accessible overview of PRT. The target audience is parents and teachers working with children with ASD, although it is written with sufcient sophistication that it is also quite useful to experienced clinicians and direct service providers looking to gain more knowledge of the intervention model. The book serves a much-needed niche in the PRT literature. The last comprehensive guide, written by the developers of PRT, was published several years ago (Koegel and Koegel 2006). More recent handbooks are available through their website, although The PRT Pocket Guide provides more comprehensive information on applications of PRT throughout the lifespan and across individuals of varying functioning levels. Additionally, the book is designed to be a highly accessible guide for a wide audience of both professionals and parents. The purpose of the book is to describe the overall intervention approach and give readers a preliminary understanding of the model. In order to become certied to deliver the intervention, parents and professionals can become formally trained by the developers. The book,
P. Ventola (&) Child Study Center, Yale University, 230 South Frontage Rd., New Haven, CT 06520, USA e-mail: pamela.ventola@yale.edu

however, does provide a thorough framework of the model, and it discusses the individual elements of the treatment approach, breaking them down into clear and comprehensible components. The authors weave historical context related to both conceptualization of autism as well as different behavioral approaches into the discussion of PRT, which provides a framework for how the intervention evolved, making it even more transparent and accessible to parents and teachers. Additionally, the authors intersperse research and empirical evidence with the clinical applications, again to clarify the purpose of the differing elements of PRT. In their discussion of PRT, the authors focus on common areas of concern for parents and teachers. They talk about elements of successful intervention programs broadly, managing problematic behaviors, generalizing treatment gains, and the importance of family involvement in treatment. The book also offers a chapter dedicated to data collection on the childs progress towards his/her individual goals. The chapter clearly describes differing types of data collection methods and provides examples of how clinicians can readily collect this necessary information within the context of the intervention. Similarly, throughout the book, the authors offer clear, concrete, and explicit strategies as well as activities, based on PRT, that parents and teachers can utilize to help develop the childs skills. The book includes case vignettes as well, again to concretize the approach and make it more accessible to wide audience. Overall, this book is highly recommended. It is exceptionally well written and provides a solid foundational knowledge of PRT. Parents who are interested in learning more about the intervention can read this book to gain ideas and information about PRT as well as help inform their childs intervention program. Additionally, clinicians and

123

J Autism Dev Disord

direct service providers can benet, as even if they are not planning on delivering PRT per se, the information conveyed can help inform intervention models more broadly and recommendations for individualized education programs.

Reference
Koegel, R. L., & Koegel, L. K. (2006). Pivotal response treatment for autism: Communication, social, and academic development. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brooks.

123