Verbal Behavior Therapy

Despite the age or skill level of an individual entering any of Endeavor’s five main programs, each individual receives Verbal Behavior Therapy (VBT), also known as Applied Verbal Behavior (AVB). VBT, based on behaviorist B.F. Skinner’s functional analysis of verbal behavior (Skinner, 1957), is different than other language theories that emphasize the cognitive or physiological process inside the individual. Instead, VBT involves a functional analysis of the individual’s receptive and expressive language repertoires that is used to develop interventions that will: (1) motivate and teach language by connecting words with their purposes (or functions) in a developmentally-appropriate sequence; (2) generalize learned skills to other people, settings, and stimuli in the individual’s natural environment; and (3) maintain over time, including after interventions have been withdrawn.