Correction Concerning Howard et al. (2005).We would like to take this opportunity to correct some misrepresentations of our study "A comparison of intensive behavior analytic and eclectic treatments for young children with autism autism (ô`tĭzəm), developmental disability resulting from a neurological disorder that affects the normal functioning of the brain. It is characterized by the abnormal development of communication skills, social skills, and reasoning. " (Howard et al., 2005) that have appeared in this journal and elsewhere. Although we welcome thoughtful and informed criticisms of our research, we think the field and the best interests of children with autism are seriously jeopardized by the dissemination of unfounded statements and insinuations about the study and those involved in it. To attenuate To reduce the force or severity; to lessen a relationship or connection between two objects. In Criminal Procedure, the relationship between an illegal search and a confession may be sufficiently attenuated as to remove the confession from the protection afforded by the those harms, we respectfully offer the following pertinent facts about the Howard et al. (2005) study: * The nonpublic agency that provided intensive behavior analytic treatment to the experimental group in our study has never refused to serve a child with autism who was referred to its in-home or center-based programs from any of its 17 different funding sources (Special Education Local Planning Agencies, Regional Centers, and school districts), as long as there were adequate resources to staff and supervise the programming. * Children who participated in our study were actually served and referred to the study by two different Regional Centers. * Neither the staff of the nonpublic agency nor any Regional Center staff person ever directed a child to be placed in any particular intervention program. * All 61 IEP/IFSP teams responsible for the educational placements of the children in the study acted in accordance with state and federal laws governing special education placement and procedures. That is, those teams--not the authors of the study or any other single individuals--decided which type of intervention children would receive. * Children were not randomly assigned to groups because of serious ethical and practical constraints; additionally, doing so would have violated the aforementioned laws. Rather, participants were selected for our study from larger pools of children in the three types of programs in such a way as to constitute matched treatment and comparison groups. Consistent with recommended tactics for field research of this nature, the groups were matched as closely as possible on variables that have been found to correlate with treatment outcomes in previous studies. We did not merely assume that the matching procedures resulted in groups that were substantially similar when the study began; rather, we demonstrated it empirically, as described in our paper. The small number of variables on which the groups differed significantly pre-treatment were controlled for in our statistical analyses, also described in our paper. * Our study, which was published in a respected peer-reviewed journal peer-reviewed journal Refereed journal Academia A professional journal that only publishes articles subjected to a rigorous peer validity review process. Cf Throwaway journal. , substantially replicated the methods and results of a previous study conducted by independent investigators independent investigator Independent research investigator NIHspeak A well-established scientist whose research accomplishments have resulted in the bestowal of "tenure", ie, long-term commitment of salary, personnel and research resources in another country (Eikeseth, Smith, Jahr, & Eldevik, 2002). It also corroborates several other published studies of early intensive behavior analytic treatment for autism. For interested readers, the Howard et al. (2005) study is available at www.sciencedirect.com The full reference is Howard, J., Sparkman, C., Cohen cohen or kohen (Hebrew: “priest”) Jewish priest descended from Zadok (a descendant of Aaron), priest at the First Temple of Jerusalem. The biblical priesthood was hereditary and male. , H., Green, G, & Stanislaw, H. (2005). A comparison of intensive behavior analytic and eclectic treatments for young children with autism. Research in Developmental Disabilities developmental disabilities (DD), n.pl the pathologic conditions that have their origin in the embryology and growth and development of an individual. DDs usually appear clinically before 18 years of age. , 26, 359-383. As we have in the past, we encourage anyone who has questions or concerns about our study to contact us directly. We will make every effort to respond. Author Contact Information Jane S. Howard, PhD, BCBA BCBA Board Certified Behavior Analyst BCBA Baltimore County Bar Association (Towson, MD) BCBA Building Code Board of Appeals BCBA Barnstable County Beekeepers Association (Massachusetts, USA) Psychology Department California State University, Stanislaus California State University, Stanislaus, a campus in the California State University system, was established in 1957 in Turlock, California. CSU Stanislaus has nursing and education programs. 801 W. Monte Vista Monte Vista can refer to
Turlock, CA 95382 jhoward@asherah.csustan.edu Coleen Sparkman, MA, CCC-SLP CCC-SLP Certificate of Clinical Competency-Speech-Language Pathology The Kendall School 1115 14th St Modesto, CA 95354 (209) 572-0102 Howard Cohen, PhD Valley Mountain Regional Center P.O. Box 692290 Stockton, CA 95269-2290 Phone: (209) 473-0951 Gina Green, PhD, BCBA San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU), founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area (generally the City and County of San Diego), and is part of the California State University system. San Diego, California “San Diego” redirects here. For other uses, see San Diego (disambiguation). San Diego is a coastal Southern California city located in the southwestern corner of the continental United States. As of 2006, the city has a population of 1,256,951. Phone: 619-518-4990 Harold Stanislaw, PhD Department of Psychology California State University, Stanislaus 801 W. Monte Vista Avenue Turlock, CA 95382 Phone: (209) 667-3386 e-mail: hstanislaw@csustan.edu |
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