Pivotal response intervention I: Overview of approach

The purpose of this article is to present an overview of several pivotal re sponse interventions. Our research at the University of California, Santa B arbara, has been focused on attempting to identify pivotal areas that, when changed, result in concomitant positive changes in other areas. Pivotal ar eas that are discussed include responsivity to multiple cues, motivation to initiate and respond appropriately to social and environmental stimuli, an d self-regulation of behavior, including selfmanagement and self-initiation s. The trend to streamline intervention by targeting behaviors that will ha ve widespread effects on development, rather than targeting individual beha viors one at a time, is discussed.