Kariel Thompson is a California-based speech language pathologist who leverages nearly a decade of experience to treat children with communication disorders and developmental disabilities. In her practice, Kariel Thompson is particularly interested in autism and how it affects speech development.

Learning how to communicate best with children who have autism is one of the biggest challenges of being a parent of a child diagnosed with the developmental disorder. While many children with autism have verbal skills, they generally aren’t able to express themselves adequately, and this can be discouraging for primary caregivers. New research, however, suggests that pivotal response therapy (PRT) may be the most effective treatment for these concerns.

Grace Gengoux, PhD, led a Stanford University study examining four dozen children with autism. The children, who had serious language delays, were between the ages of two and five years old. Half of the children received PRT while the others continued whichever therapy they had been receiving prior to the study. By the end of the six-month study, children in the PRT group were showing greater social communication skills and were speaking more overall than the children in the comparison group.

The goal of PRT is to leverage a child’s motivations to facilitate increased and improved speech. An example would be a toy in which a child would express interest; if he or she is able to name the object, the child can be given the toy as a reward.