About LEADERS

The LEADERS program was designed to serve as a resource to individuals, families, and professionals who would like to access cutting-edge, science-based information on and services for individuals with Autism spectrum disorders.

The Lake Erie Autism Educational, Diagnostic and Research Services (LEADERS) program is a collaborative program between the Achievement Center in Erie and Mercyhurst College. Along with the University of Pittsburgh, our affiliate program at Mercyhurst represents one of the two Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB)-approved graduate programs in western Pennsylvania.

Each component of LEADERS fits together with the next to provide a comprehensive package that will ultimately improve the lives of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and their families throughout the region, the Commonwealth and, ultimately, the nation.

The LEADERS program has five key components:

Enhanced training for parents, clinical staff, and support staff - also the and development of a "clearinghouse" of informational resources for parents and practitioners.
Improved, outcomes-based service delivery within integrated service contexts through Behavioral Health Rehabilitation Services (BHRS), Early Intervention (EI) services, Occupational Therapy (OT), Physical Therapy (PT), and Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) services and through Family-Based and Outpatient
Mental Health services.
The provision of highly specialized staff through a graduate assistant and internship program.
*Establishment of outreach opportunities for those who live in rural areas or any areas outside of the metropolitan “hubs” of autism services.
The production, implementation, and dissemination of applied research in conjunction with Mercyhurst College resources.

LEADERS also provides clinical supervision for behavior analysts and candidates for Board Certification in Behavior Analysis.

The LEADERS Advantage

Of the major human service organizations or providers of autism services in the Northwest Region of Pennsylvania, LEADERS is the only college/university-affiliated autism program, and it is now also one of the only autism programs that has an emphasis on applied research and a demonstrable commitment to evidence-based practice.

We are housed at the Achievement Center, a large-scale agency with extensive services and clinical resources, including BHRS, Casework, Early Intervention, Speech, OT, PT, Family-Based MH, Outpatient Psychiatric Services, Diagnostic Evaluations, etc. We currently also have consultative contracts with Intermediate Unit 5.

Achievement Center services are currently offered in Pennsylvania counties Erie, Crawford, Forest, and Warren, PA and Chautauqua County, NY, with Fsatellite offices in three of these locations. Consultative services are not limited to any geographic area.

The Achievement Center is the largest provider of many services in the Northwest (BHRS and EI), and we also offer many services that are not offered by other organizations in our area. We also have the resources, technologies, and research capabilities of Mercyhurst College at our disposal.

Our Mercyhurst colleague, Dr. Phillip Belfiore, is a well-known behavior analyst and researcher in the field of interventions for low-incidence developmental disabilities, and he is a key component of the LEADERS Program.

About Applied Behavior Analysis

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) serves as the clinical foundation for LEADERS services. As a basis for autism intervention, ABA offers us the ability to use a scientifically valid and data-based approach toward measuring progress of our clients.

ABA is a science that is often misunderstood or misrepresented. It is important to note that ABA is not synonymous with techniques that are used. Rather, it is simply a science of teaching and learning, a helping profession, that relies upon making well-defined changes in the environment, and then using data to measure and evaluate the effects those changes have on the behavior or learning of our clients.

ABA has more than 40 years of solid evidence for its effectiveness in treating specific learning, communication, social skill, life skill, and behavior problems. The most common method of evaluation within the field of ABA is single subject research, which allows the researcher to know with great certainty that the interventions employed are responsible for the effects seen. While single case design sacrifices the generalizability of results to larger groups, these studies are replicated across both groups of individuals and across environments, supporting the validity of their results.

The result is a body of knowledge of interventions that we know are effective for dealing with specific problems encountered by specific individuals or groups.

With regard to autism, ABA has shown practitioners the way to many extremely effective intervention packages. While the field of autism intervention has been mired in debate about the evidence base to support certain types of interventions, the focus has been on large group designs incorporating random assignment, and the evaluation of larger systems of intervention. This has posed many significant problems. One of the greatest of these is that research has had a difficult time standardizing a treatment approach. This is because autism is such a complex disorder that manifests itself differently within each individual. While all individuals with autism have common general areas of difference, each individual has a different set of specific needs and deficits, and these change over the course of time, even within each individual.

So, attempts at discovering a highly systematic approach for intervention, in which everything is done the same for each case, have not been very fruitful. The problem is that solid group-design research requires that things be done the same in each case. The requirements of group design and the complexities of the desired outcomes of autism intervention have simply limited the ability for researchers to produce any undisputable research regarding any of the proposed interventions for autism.

All of the above noted, the most important thing to remember is that ABA does have an extremely solid base of evidence if we look at specific problems that may be associated with autism spectrum disorders. In other words, it is difficult to prove or disprove an overall intervention approach aimed at curing autism, but it is quite easy to prove the effectiveness of a certain intervention for addressing (for example) tantrum behaviors, or an intervention designed to increase the ability of a child to communicate. ABA stands upon mountains of evidence for addressing specific skill and behavior problems.

ABA is the only autism intervention that has been endorsed by the Surgeon General, and it meets all of the requirements for effective intervention that were established by the National Research Council.

Again, ABA is a science of human behavior. It is a science of effective teaching and learning, and is a helping profession. It is not defined by its techniques. ABA is primarily concerned about providing the highest level of happiness, independence, satisfaction, and self-determination for the individuals who receive our services.