Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan;27(1):253-258.
doi: 10.1177/13623613221121427. Epub 2022 Sep 2.

Toward deeper understanding and wide-scale implementation of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions

Sophia R D'Agostino  1 , Ana D Dueñas  2 , Alice Bravo  3 , Kelsie Tyson  4 , Diondra Straiton  5 , Giovanna L Salvatore  6 , Cressida Pacia  7 , Melanie Pellecchia  8
Affiliations

Toward deeper understanding and wide-scale implementation of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions

Sophia R D'Agostino et al. Autism. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs) are a group of early interventions that use a variety of strategies from applied behavioral and developmental sciences. Although Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions have been demonstrated effective, Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions are not implemented on a wide scale within early intervention programs for children on the autism spectrum. Potential reasons likely stem from differing theoretical orientations of developmental and behavioral sciences and practitioners' lack training, knowledge, and support for implementing Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions. In support of efforts to promote wide-scale implementation of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions, we (1) clarify their common features, (2) discuss possible misconceptions, and (3) offer reasons why Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions should be widely implemented. We also provide recommendations to the autism service community, intervention developers, and researchers.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorders; early intervention; naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Boyd BA, Stahmer AC, Odom SL, Wallisch A, & Matheis M. (2021). It’s time to close the research to practice gap in autism: The need for implementation science. Autism, 26(3), 569–574. 10.1177/13623613211064422 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bruinsma YE, Minjarez MB, Schreibman L, & Stahmer AC (2020). Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions for autism spectrum disorder. Brookes Publishing Company.
    1. Frost KM, Brian J, Gengoux GW, Hardan A, Rieth SR, Stahmer A, & Ingersoll B. (2020). Identifying and measuring the common elements of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions for autism spectrum disorder: Development of the NDBI-Fi. Autism, 24(8), 2285–2297. 10.1177/1362361320944011 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Halle JW (1982). Teaching functional language to the handicapped: An integrative model of natural environment teaching techniques. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 7, 29–37. 10.1177/154079698200700404 - DOI
    1. Hampton LH, & Sandbank MP (2021). Keeping up with the evidence base: Survey of behavior professionals about Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions. Autism, 26, 875–888. 10.1177/13623613211035233 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types