Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention Special Interest Group – 2025 SIG Update

By Sophia D’Agostino, Melanie Pellecchia, Elizabeth Horton, Emma Sipila-Thomas, Ana Dueñas, Amy Matthews, Meghan Kane

The Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) SIG is proud to share its fourth annual report. The NDBI SIG was founded in May of 2020 by Sophia D’Agostino (president), Melanie Pellecchia (member at large), Elizabeth Horton (secretary-treasurer), Emma Sipila-Thomas (student member/secretary-treasurer), Ana Dueñas (member at large), Amy Matthews (member at large), and Meghan Kane (member at large). The NDBI SIG aims to bring together professionals who have an interest in understanding and advancing the dissemination and implementation of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions for individuals with autism spectrum and related disorders. The NDBI SIG has three primary purposes: (1) Advance the understanding of NDBI among behavior analysts; (2) Disseminate the latest research and practice related to NDBI in the treatment of individuals with autism; (3) Provide a forum for behavior analysts interested in NDBI to network and collaborate.

NDBIs are empirically validated interventions implemented in natural settings using components from developmental and behavioral science. Common examples of NDBI approaches include Incidental Teaching, Pivotal Response Treatment, Early Start Denver Model, Enhanced Milieu Training and many more. In order to bring parsimony to the field, Schreibman et al. (2015) proposed the common use of the term NDBI to refer to interventions that combine applied behavior analysis (ABA) with developmental science. The core elements of NDBIs as identified by Frost et al. (2020) include (1) face-to-face on the child’s level, (2) follow child’s lead, (3) use positive affect and animation, (4) model appropriate language (5) respond to communicative attempts, (6) use communicative temptations, (7) provide frequent direct teaching episodes, and (8) provide quality direct teaching episodes. A recent meta-analysis recognized NDBI as a promising intervention approach for children with autism (Sandbank et al., 2020). Please see our website (linked below) for a list of recent NDBI publications and other resources including handouts, videos, and books to learn more about NDBI.

Our focus for this year was on dissemination efforts. During the past year, we have maintained a website (https://sites.google.com/sdsu.edu/ndbispecialinterestgroup/home) and facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/NDBI-Special-Interest-Group-for-ABAI-106003411312893) and added a Linkedin and Instagram page designed to grow interest in NDBI and share links to relevant resources. We have focused on improving our website and developing our social media presence with the assistance of volunteer members. These efforts included redesigning and enhancing our website with additional resources and creating templates for posts and strategies to promote engagement on our social media platforms. We also participated in the NDBI Connections Conference and funded attendance for three students.

To become a SIG member or if you are interested in learning more about NDBI, please contact us at NDBISIG@gmail.com. Membership is currently free and we welcome anyone to join. We hope to engage more practitioners in discussions around NDBI and provide resources to increase NDBI implementation.