The development of a treatment-research project for developmentally disabled and autistic children.
UCLA’s 30-year arc shows that steady, data-driven tinkering plus massive early dosage beats waiting for the perfect program.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Lovaas (1993) tells the 30-year story of UCLA’s autism project. The team started with one boy in 1964. They kept tweaking lessons, adding staff, and tracking data.
The paper is not a new experiment. It is a look back at what worked, what failed, and what they learned about building big services.
What they found
Big gains came from tiny, daily changes tried again and again. The clinic added hours, parents, schools, and peer play. Each step grew from the last.
The main lesson: pile on early, intense teaching everywhere in the child’s life. Keep records. Share results. Let families push the next step.
How this fits with other research
Smith (2013) shows the same model living on. The Lovaas Institute copied UCLA’s plan and spread it to community clinics. Same kids, same dose, new towns.
Vivanti et al. (2018) updates the idea. They ask for theory-first trials, not just tinkering. It sounds opposite, but it is the next layer. UCLA proved inductive change works; Giacomo adds a roadmap so new sites can move faster.
Dyer et al. (2006) tested the dose idea in a regional center. More parts—hours, parents, supervision—meant parents saw better child progress. UCLA’s story predicted that result.
Why it matters
You do not need a perfect manual on day one. Start small, measure, adjust, and expand. Track what you change so the next team can copy and improve. If you run a clinic, let front-line staff pilot tiny shifts each week. If you supervise RBTs, add one new setting or caregiver at a time. Keep data simple and visible so everyone sees the trend.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Pick one client goal and add a second setting or person this week; graph the result.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
This paper describes the development and main results over the last 30 years from the treatment-research project with developmentally disabled (autistic) children in the Psychology Department at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Three important dimensions in treatment research are addressed. The first pertains to the role of serendipity or accidental discoveries, the second to the importance of pursuing inductive rather than theory-driven research, and the third to the importance of adding in a cumulative and step-wise manner to improve treatment adequacy. Data from various areas of treatment research have been used to illustrate new directions for the project. These illustrations center on early and successful attempts to isolate experimentally the environmental variables that control self-injury, failure to observe response and stimulus generalization with subsequent loss of treatment gains, and the main results of intensive and early behavioral intervention in the child's natural environment. Effective treatment for severe behavioral disorders is seen to require early intervention carried out during all or most of the child's waking hours, addressing all significant behaviors in all of the child's environments, by all significant persons, for many years.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1993 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1993.26-617