Meredith Autism Program Research Replication Site:
The intervention used with young children with autism involved in the Meredith Autism Program is based on the long-term research of Dr. Ivar Lovaas from UCLA.

His development of the best method to teach young children with autism began in the 1960s and his landmark study published in 1987- “Behavioral treatment and normal education and intellectual functioning in young autistic children” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 3-9. Dr. Lovaas found that some of the young children with autism involved in his study made tremendous gains, never before documented with a specific intervention. To verify that the gains made by these children were truly due to the method of teaching he developed, Dr. Lovaas began the research replication site project in the late 1980s.

There are currently fewer than 15 replication sites worldwide. The Meredith Autism Program became one of those sites in March of 1998. Each site has a person or persons who have been trained in the UCLA Treatment Model by Dr. Lovaas and his staff. Dr. Lovaas and his Clinical Director must agree that the prospective trainer has acquired the necessary skills to oversee the research, therefore the amount of training time is variable.

Each person trained to run the research must attend a directors’ meeting once per year where all replication site directors meet to share new information and report upon the progress of their research. Many groups, universities, colleges and individuals have asked to become a replication site for the UCLA Treatment Model but few are accepted .

What is the Research?:
Research conducted at all sites is long-term. Children are typically involved in the intervention for two to four years. All children receive standardized assessments before the intervention begins and every succeeding year until the age of seven.

Each replication site has an independent assessor who tests all the children annually. All children must enter the program with an independent diagnosis of autism or pervasive developmental disorder (PDD). The intervention must begin by age 42 months. Trained staff and students teach the children.

When children involved in the research have reached the age of seven, approximately 45% may have reached normal intelligence scores, be in typical school placement, and be indistinguishable from other typical peers- “best outcome.” This was the result of Dr. Lovaas’ 1987 study that the Meredith Autism Program is in the process of replicating.

The Meredith Autism Program's Research Model bases its monthly fee on an average of 30-40 hours of intervention per week. Fees may be adjusted when children younger than 42 months (three and one half years old) begin services and for all children during holiday and transition months when intervention hours may be less than the weekly average of 30 hours. Monthly rates are subject to change with 60 days written notice.