Increasing Opportunities for Question-Asking in School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Effectiveness of Staff Training in Pivotal Response Treatment
Training staff in PRT reliably boosts how often kids with ASD ask questions during sessions.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Verschuur and team taught school staff how to use Pivotal Response Treatment. The goal was to get kids with autism to ask more questions.
Staff learned to give clear opportunities and wait for the child to speak up. The study tracked both staff behavior and child questions.
What they found
After training, staff created more chances for kids to ask questions. The children used these chances and asked more questions during sessions.
The gains stayed only while staff kept using the plan. Kids did not start asking more questions in new places or with new people.
How this fits with other research
Lowe et al. (1995) got even bigger gains by training classmates instead of staff. Their preschoolers kept the new social skills for months.
Zhang et al. (2022) also used peer helpers in grade-school classrooms. They saw wide social gains, not just more questions.
Jobin et al. (2025) built on Verschuur’s idea and added a boss-level toolkit. Supervisors now get quick fidelity checks and coaching tips to keep PRT sharp.
The three later studies all show wider or longer gains. The key difference: peers and supervisors give more natural practice than staff alone.
Why it matters
If you run PRT, train staff first, then loop in peers and supervisors. Start with staff so kids get clear chances to ask questions. Add peer sessions next so practice spreads to recess and group work. Use Jobin’s toolkit to keep staff fluent. This chain turns short lesson gains into everyday language.
What this study did
Verschuur and team taught school staff how to use Pivotal Response Treatment. The goal was to get kids with autism to ask more questions.
Staff learned to give clear opportunities and wait for the child to speak up. The study tracked both staff behavior and child questions.
What they found
After training, staff created more chances for kids to ask questions. The children used these chances and asked more questions during sessions.
The gains stayed only while staff kept using the plan. Kids did not start asking more questions in new places or with new people.
How this fits with other research
Lowe et al. (1995) got even bigger gains by training classmates instead of staff. Their preschoolers kept the new social skills for months.
Zhang et al. (2022) also used peer helpers in grade-school classrooms. They saw wide social gains, not just more questions.
Jobin et al. (2025) built on Verschuur’s idea and added a boss-level toolkit. Supervisors now get quick fidelity checks and coaching tips to keep PRT sharp.
The three later studies all show wider or longer gains. The key difference: peers and supervisors give more natural practice than staff alone.
Why it matters
If you run PRT, train staff first, then loop in peers and supervisors. Start with staff so kids get clear chances to ask questions. Add peer sessions next so practice spreads to recess and group work. Use Jobin’s toolkit to keep staff fluent. This chain turns short lesson gains into everyday language.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Deficits in question-asking are common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Furthermore, their opportunities to self-initiate questions are often hindered by directive behavior of their conversation partners. This study assessed the effectiveness of staff training in pivotal response treatment (PRT) on staff member-created opportunities and self-initiated questions of school-aged children with ASD. Generalization and maintenance were also assessed. Participants were 14 staff members and children with ASD attending an inpatient treatment facility. Data showed that PRT resulted in significant increases in both staff member-created opportunities and child-initiated questions. Generalization to group situations and collateral changes in children’s language, pragmatic, and adaptive skills, and maladaptive behaviors did not occur. Implications for clinical practice and directions for future research are discussed.
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2016 · doi:10.1007/s10803-016-2966-3