Wetherby, 2006 Page 1

SCERTS:
A Transactional-Developmental
Implementing the SCERTS
Intervention Model for ASD
Model for Young Children with
Autism Spectrum Barry Prizant
Amy Wetherby
Emily Rubin
***** Amy Laurent
Amy M. Wetherby, Ph.D. Pat Rydell
Florida State University
www.brookespublishing.com

SCERTS Who is the SCERTS Model for?

Intervention Model
S- SOCIAL Social Partner – pre-symbolic means to
communicate (gestures and/or vocalizations)
C- COMMUNICATION
E- EMOTIONAL Language Partner – early symbolic means to
communicate (speech, pictures/picture symbols,
R- REGULATION signs)
T- TRANSACTIONAL
Conversational Partner – sentence and
S- SUPPORT conversational level discourse to communicate
Prizant, Wetherby, Rubin, Laurent, & Rydell (in press)

What are the Active Ingredients of

Is the SCERTS Model Simply
Effective Programs for Children with ASD?
an Eclectic Approach? (National Research Council, 2001: www.nap.edu)

Is not a patchwork of different approaches
Is a logical and integrated framework that
is derived from current research
a comprehensive curricular framework
a team process
specific guidelines for determining priorities,
and attainable and measurable goals
for a wide range of persons with ASD
Intensity matters
Active engagement for 25 hour per week
Early is better
Intervention by 3 ½ years is more effective than after 5 years
Family participation is essential
Families were a critical component in effective programs
Goals need to be individualized and monitored regularly
Goals and supports need to target behavior, social, and
academic challenges
Progress should be documented within 3 months

Seminar presented at the ASHA 2006 Annual Convention, Miami, Florida

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NRC Recommendations for

Early is the key Meaningful Outcome Measures

Early core deficits of

1. Gains in initiation of spontaneous
ASD may lead to a
communication in functional activities
cascading effect on
brain development that 2. Generalization of gains across
arise from • Activities
impoverished social • Partners (adults and peers)
interaction.
• Environments
(Mundy & Burnette, 2005)

Criteria for Determining Goals in the

THE SCERTS MODEL is SCERTS Model

Child (person) centered 1) Functional - What difference will this make in a

child’s life?
Activity based
2) Family Priorities – Do family members value goals?
Developmentally grounded
3) Developmental – goals based on child’s
developmental capacities (partner stages)
Family centered

Core Challenges – Joint Attention

Social Communication

Joint Attention Difficulty orienting and attending to a social

capacity to coordinate and share attention
and interest with another person
Symbol Use
capacity to learn conventional or shared
meanings for symbols
partner and sharing emotion
Difficulty coordinating attention between
people and objects / events (engaging in
intentional communication).
Difficulty drawing another’s attention to
objects or events for the purpose of sharing
experiences.
Difficulty reading / sharing affect, emotional
states, or perspectives.

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Wetherby, 2006
Core Challenges – Symbol Use
Difficulty learning “shared” meanings for
gestures and words (i.e., limitations in
conventional gestures and symbolic
language).
Use of unconventional ways of
communicating (echolalia, self-injury)
Difficulty pretending in play
Symbol Use Goals
(85 objectives across 3 partner stages)
1. Expands learning strategies: imitation,
observation, instruction, collaboration
2. Understands nonverbal cues
3. Participates in play and recreation
4. Uses of gestures and nonverbal behavior
5. Understands and use generative language to
express a variety of meanings
6. Follows rules of conversation
Emotional Regulation
Our emotions decide what is
worth paying attention
to emotions are constantly
regulating what we experience
as reality. (Pert, 1997)
Seminar presented at the ASHA 2006 Annual Convention, Miami, Florida
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Joint Attention Goals
(87 objectives across 3 partner stages)
1. Engages in reciprocal interaction
2. Shares attention
3. Shares emotions
4. Shares intentions for a range of functions
5. Persists and repairs in communication
6. Shares experiences in reciprocal interaction
Emotional Regulation
Emotional Regulation is a core
developmental process underlying
attention, arousal, and the
establishment of social relationships.
(Prizant, Wetherby, & Rydell, 2000).
Optimal State of Arousal
(Prizant, Wetherby & Rydell, 2000)
A state of being in which a child is focused,
can problem solve, can communicate
effectively,and benefit from learning
opportunities in his/her environment.
Coincides with demands of the social and
physical environment.
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EMOTIONAL STATE AND

PHYSIOLOGICAL AROUSAL PHYSIOLOGICAL STATE
A continuum of bio-behavioral states
Emotions and bodily sensations are
1. Deep Sleep intricately intertwined. Every change
2. Drowsy in the physiological state is
3. Quiet Alert accompanied by an appropriate
4. Active Alert change in the mental emotional
5. Agitated or Overly Excited state (and vice-versa).
6. Extremely Dysregulated Pert (1997)

Emotional Regulation
Self Regulation vs. Mutual Regulation Critical Capacities in Development
(Prizant, Wetherby & Rydell, 2000)
(Prizant et al., 2005)

A child is most “available” for learning when he/she

is better able to:
Self Regulation Mutual Regulation
The ability to attain The ability to solicit attend to the most relevant information in an
an optimal level of and secure activity or setting;
assistance from process verbal and nonverbal information;
arousal initiate interactions using the most sophisticated
others in regulating
independently language and communication strategies in one’s
one’s arousal. repertoire;
actively participate in everyday activities.

Emotional Regulation;
The 4 A’s of Behavior
(Lester, Freier & LeGrasse, 1995; Anzalone & Williamson,
2000)
Optimal State of Arousal
Arousal Level
Children with ASD typically have a
narrow window of optimal arousal
resulting in fluctuating responses to
Attention Affect sensory input and variation in behavior
secondary to poor self and mutual
regulation of the 4 A’s.
Action

Seminar presented at the ASHA 2006 Annual Convention, Miami, Florida

Wetherby, 2006
Behavior Management
Emotional Regulation
Self-Regulation Goals
(60 objectives across 3 partner stages)
1. Demonstrate availability for learning and
interacting
2. Use strategies appropriate to developmental level
to regulate level of arousal during familiar
activities
(behavioral, language and metacognitive)
3. Regulate emotion during new and changing
situations
4. Recover from extreme dysregulation by self
Transactional Support
learning occurs in the social context of
everyday activities,
supports are used to optimize the back-and-
forth interaction between the child and
partners in his/her learning environment
supports need to be infused across a child’s
daily activities, and
across all social partners who interact with a
child (e.g., parents, other caregivers, siblings,
and peers).
Seminar presented at the ASHA 2006 Annual Convention, Miami, Florida
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Emotional Regulation Strategies
Developmental Progression
Behavioral (SP)
Language (LP)
Metacognitive (CP)
Mutual Regulation Goals
(57 objectives across 3 partner stages)
1. Express range of emotions
2. Respond to assistance offered by others
3. Respond to feedback and guidance
regarding behavior
4. Request others' assistance to regulate
emotional state
5. Recover from extreme dysregulation
with support from partners
The SCERTS Model of Intervention
TRANSACTIONAL SUPPORT
Interpersonal Supports
ways for partners to adjust language use, emotional expression
and interactive style that are effective in helping a child with
ASD process language, participate in social interaction, and
maintain well-regulated states
Learning Supports
ways for partners to arrange the environment, structure activities,
provide visual supports, and adapt or modify the curriculum to
foster social communication and emotional regulation and
support success in learning
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Interpersonal Support Goals Learning Support Goals

(99 objectives across 3 partner stages) (75 objectives across 3 partner stages)

1. Partner is responsive to child 1. Partner structures activity for active

2. Partner fosters initiation participation
2. Partner uses augmentative system
3. Partner respects child's independence to foster development
4. Partner sets stage for engagement 3. Partner uses visual and organizational
5. Partner provides developmental support supports
6. Partner adjusts language input 4. Partner modifies goals, activities,
7. Partner models appropriate behaviors and learning environment

SCERTS Assessment Process

(SAP) Implementing SAP
to establish a child’s profile of developmental
strengths and needs Information is gathered from multiple sources
to determine meaningful, purposeful, and SAP-Report
motivating goals based on a child’s profile and
functional needs information reported by parents, teachers,
to select the most appropriate learning contexts and/or other familiar caregivers
and teaching strategies
to determine the necessary transactional support
(interpersonal support, learning support, support to
families)
to monitor progress over time

Implementing SAP SAP Domains & Components

Social Communication
Information is gathered from multiple sources
Joint Attention
SAP-Report Symbol Use
information reported by parents, teachers, Emotional Regulation
and/or other familiar caregivers Self-Regulation
SAP-Observation Mutual Regulation
information based on naturalistic observation Transaction Support
and, if needed, behavior sampling Interpersonal Supports
Learning Supports

Seminar presented at the ASHA 2006 Annual Convention, Miami, Florida

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Social Emotional Growth Indicators SAP Steps

Happiness: the capacity to experience and express positive emotion from
everyday activities Integrate Information with the
Sense of Self: the capacity to take pride in one's special qualities and
achievements
Sense of Other: the capacity to understand the perspective of others
SAP- Summary Form
Active Learning and Organization: the capacity to be engaged actively
and organized in learning activities
Flexibility and Resilience: the ability to flow with changes and stick with
new challenges
Cooperation and Appropriateness of Behavior: the capacity to
cooperate and regulate behavior in social interaction
Independence: the ability to use one's own resources to be successful
Social Membership and Friendship: the capacity to be part of a social
group and develop a network of friends

SAP Steps SEVEN SCERTS Principles

1) SC goals emphasize functional use of
Ongoing Tracking language and communication in natural
Daily Tracking Log settings.
2) A child’s ER and its effect on
Weekly Tracking Log communication, interaction, and learning
Quarterly SAP and arousal states are monitored
continuously.
3) Approaches to problem behavior are
integrated with SC and ER.

SEVEN SCERTS Principles How are SCERTS Goals Selected?

4) Environments are arranged and activities are

designed to foster motivation and encourage Goals must be functional
initiation of communication.
5) TS are used to promote active and independent
participation in activities. Goals must address family priorities
6) Learning and playing with peers is an essential
component of education.
7) The development of positive relationships Goals must be developmentally
among professionals and family members is the appropriate
foundation for successful collaboration.

Seminar presented at the ASHA 2006 Annual Convention, Miami, Florida

Wetherby, 2006
MA & PA Approach:
Meaningful And Purposeful Activities
4 levels on a continuum from least to most natural:
Planned activity routines (PARs)
Engineered activities and environments
Modified natural activities and environments
Naturally occurring events and environments
SCERTS
COMMUNICATION STAGES
Social Partner Stage
transition to communicating with
purpose or intent
transition to conventional gestures and
vocalizations
Emotional Regulation
Objectives for R. at 20 months
SELF-REGULATION
SR 1.2 Shows interest in a variety of sensory and social
experiences
SR 1.4 Initiates bids for interaction
SR 2.2 Uses behavioral strategies to increase and decrease
arousal level during social interactions
SR 3.1 Anticipates other’s actions in familiar routines
MUTUAL REGULATION
MR1.1 Expresses happiness
MR 2.3 Responds to bids for interaction
MR 3.2 Shares positive emotion to seek interaction
Seminar presented at the ASHA 2006 Annual Convention, Miami, Florida
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SCERTS Activity Planning
Plan Morning and Afternoon Schedule
Incorporate Child SC & ER Objectives
within at least 3 activities
Incorporate Partner TS Objectives within at
least 3 activities
Social Communication
Objectives for R. at 20 months
JOINT ATTENTION
JA 2.2 Shifts gaze between people and objects
JA 3.2 Shares positive emotion using facial expressions or
vocalizations
JA 4.3 Requests help or other actions with gestures or sounds
JA 7.1 Uses appropriate rate of communication for context
JA 6.1 Comments on objects
SYMBOL USE
SU 1.1 Takes turns by repeating own actions or sounds
SU 3.1 Uses familiar objects conventionally toward self
SU 4.4 Uses conventional contact gestures (give, show, reach, point/touch)
SU 5.2 Uses a variety of consonant + vowel combinations
TRANSACTIONAL SUPPORT
Objectives for R. at 20 months
INTERPERSONAL SUPPORT
IS 1.6 Partner imitates child
IS 2.2 Partner waits and encourages initiations
IS 4.1 Gets down on child’s level when communicating
IS 6.2 Adjusts complexity of language input to child’s developmental level
IS 7.5 Models “child-perspective” language
LEARNING SUPPORT
LS 1.1 Creates turn-taking opportunities and leaves spaces for child to fill in
LS 2.1 Uses AAC to enhance child’s communication & expressive language
LS 3.1 Uses support to define steps within a task
LS 4.4 Arranges learning environment to enhance attention and motivation
LS 4.8 Provides activities to promote initiations and extended interaction