Robert Koegel, Ph.D., and Lynn Kern Koegel, Ph.D., two of the most highly respected, widely published authorities on autism and co-founders of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Autism Research and Training Center, have a lot to celebrate this month. For over 2 decades, the couple has been researching Pivotal Response Treatments (PRT) for autism, an innovative treatment named by the Council of the National Academy of Sciences in 2001 as one of the top 10 state-of-the-art treatments for autism in the United States. Now, after many years of dedication to their work and hundreds of successful interventions with children with autism, the Koegels and PRT are getting the kind of national attention most researchers only dream of.

The Koegels' work has caught the eye of ABC's hit show Supernanny. Producers were so impressed with the co-author's talent working with children, as well as the success of the UCSB Autism Research and Training Center, that they tapped Dr. Lynn Koegel to appear on the show. This Friday, November 4th, 8:00-9:00 pm, EST on ABC, Dr. Koegel offers a first-hand look at how she gets results using PRT strategies with a child with autism, which leads to dramatic improvements for the child and his family. Dr. Koegel will continue to make appearances on the show as the ongoing expert on children with special needs whenever her professional advice is needed.

The Koegels' long-awaited new book, Pivotal Response Treatments for Autism from Brookes Publishing, will also make its debut in November.  This book will be the first resource available to include all the decades of the Koegels' critical research on pivotal responses. Although their work is widely recognized and has been published for decades in leading journals, their new book will provide therapists, researchers, parents, and teachers with a single accessible source for everything related to understanding and implementing pivotal response treatments.

Parents whose children have received treatment at the UCSB Autism Research and Training Center are profoundly grateful to the Koegels. One family in particular, Brian and Patricia Kelly, feel so passionate about the Koegels and their work that they have donated $2.3 million to build a new center that will nearly triple the size of the current one. They have also renamed it the UCSB Koegel Autism Research and Training Center. In a recent article about the center in the Santa Barbara News-Press, Mr. Kelly, who is on the board of directors for Autism Speaks, an autism research and family support group, said his own family is among those "the center's human talent has absolutely helped," and he "wants to help more families get the kind of support they received at UCSB."  Lauri Bell, another parent who sought treatment for her child at the UCSB Autism Research and Training Center says that she and her family owe their "deepest appreciation to the Pivotal Response Training program and the Koegels," and adds that, "Pivotal Response Training has been a true Godsend for my family." Her son Peter has gone from "being a completely nonverbal, distant, difficult, and tantrumming child . . . to a chatty, agreeable, empathetic and gregarious, well-behaved young boy." After 2 years of therapy with PRT, Peter's developmental pediatrician told Lauri that she could no longer diagnose her son with autism. Today, Peter's first-grade teachers don't believe it is possible that he was ever diagnosed with autism. (View footage from Peter Bell's therapy sessions and get a first-hand view of his dramatic transformation.)

In all their years of research on autism, the Koegels' goal has been to spread the word about the effectiveness of PRT. Now, with the help of Supernanny, the new book Pivotal Response Treatments for Autism, and the new center at UCSB named in the Koegels' honor, more families like the Bells and Kellys will learn about PRT and how this treatment can improve the lives of their children.

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Pivotal Response Treatments for Autism: Communication, Social, and Academic Development (Brookes Publishing; November 2005; 320 pages; $39.95; ISBN 1-55766-819-1) edited by Robert L. Koegel, Ph.D., & Lynn Kern Koegel, Ph.D.

For more information contact Anastasia Worcester, Publicity Manager (410-337-9580/ aworcest@brookespublishing.com)