Large scale dissemination and community implementation of pivotal response treatment: Program description and preliminary data

This paper describes a collaborative effort aimed at province-wide dissemination and implementation of pivotal response treatment (PRT) for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Nova Scotia, Canada. Three critical components of the associated training model are described (1) direct training of treatment teams (parents, one-to-one interventionists, and clinical supervisors/ leaders); (2) training of trainers, and (3) follow-up and monitoring of treatment fidelity and child progress. A major goal of the Dalhousie University/IWK Health Centre-University of California at Santa Barbara partnership was to optimize effectiveness when translating PRT from the "lab" for dissemination in large geographical areas with community service providers. Finally, we provide data on stakeholder satisfaction with the training workshops and end by identifying features that may have contributed to our success thus far.