Programs Based on the PCDI Model
Institute for Educational Achievement (IEA)
New Milford, New Jersey
Eric Rozenblat, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Executive Director
Donna De Feo, Ph.D., Principal
Founded in 1995, IEA is a private, nonprofit educational program dedicated to providing effective intervention to children with autism that will make a difference in their lives and the lives of their families. The primary goals of the services provided by IEA are to enable persons with autism to avoid institutionalization and to live in family environments; to prepare them for enrollment in public school classrooms or for productive work; and to help them acquire skills that facilitate full participation in community life.
Somerset Hills Learning Institute
Bedminster, New Jersey
Kevin J. Brothers, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Executive Director
Somerset Hills Learning Institute provides individualized education and treatment to its students, children with autism. The Institute began serving students in 1999 and operates on the premise that all children are capable of learning. Institute personnel view it as their responsibility to create environments where interactions with people and materials are effective at teaching relevant skills. Somerset Hills Learning Institute exists to create just those kinds of environments.
Institute for Child Development (IWRD)
Gdansk, Poland
Ania Budzinska, Ph.D., Executive Director
IWRD is a nonprofit organization that offers science-based intervention to children with autism and comprehensive assistance to their families. In addition to a research and development program, IWRD also offers diagnostic and consultation services, as well as training and supervision for professionals from many other cities in Poland.
TOHUM
Istanbul, Turkey
Nergiz Koçarslan, M.Ed., Director of Educational Programs
Gul Hayal Korkmaz, Director of Educational Programs
TOHUM is an applied behavior analysis intervention program for children with autism. Founders Mine Narin and Aylin Sezgin visited PCDI in 2003 and established a collaborative effort to establish a science-based school program in Instanbul. TOHUM uses curriculum developed at PCDI and is proud to report treatment outcomes similar to those achieved at PCDI.
Binyamin Birkan Academy (BBA)
Istanbul, Turkey
Binyamin Birkan, Ph.D., BCBA-D, Executive Director
BBA was founded in Istanbul in 2019 by Dr. Binyamin Birkan. The mission of the program is to support individuals with autism to reach their full potential by training experts and parents in a comprehensive and practical way to implement effective scientific-based behavioral intervention programs.
The institution aims to increase the quality of life for individuals with autism, and also to be a pioneer in scientific research, teacher training and the development of behavioral intervention programs for other institutions that serve children with autism in Turkey and in neighboring countries.
Recognizing Individual Strengths & Excellence (RISE NY)
Queens, NY
Susan A. Vener, Ph.D, S.A.S., Co-Founder & Director
Recognizing Individual Strength & Excellence (RISE NY), was established in 2024 by co-founder and director, Susan A. Vener, Ph.D., S.A.S. This for-profit program aims to provide individuals with autism the level of support needed to acquire critical social, language, academic, and independent skills using effective, science-based intervention that is designed to generalize treatments gains acquired during teaching to untrained settings, stimuli, and locations, which magnifies the effects of intervention.
Like many sites who have adopted PCDI’s program model, their work is disseminated through research, publication, presentation, and collaboration both nationally and internationally.
Partnering Professionals/Institutions
Angeliki Gena gained intervention experience at PCDI while completing her doctorate at Queens College of the City University of New York. In 1995, she returned to Athens, Greece to establish a behavioral treatment program for children with autism. The school started with two children and now serves more than 10 children.
PCDI has a special partnership with Dobro (“kindness”), a Moscow-based institute for children with autism. Dr. Klara Lebedinskaja (1925-1993), a leading Russian autism researcher, started Dobro in 1989 as the first community-based program in Russia. A model of effective intervention in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union, Dobro continues under the direction of Dr. Sergey Morozov. Two Dobro professionals have completed yearlong residencies at PCDI. Recently, Dobro began to provide training and technical assistance to agencies in other parts of Russia.
PCDI has a long-standing relationship with behavior analysts in Norway. Drs. Patricia J. Krantz and Lynn E. McClannahan, PCDI Executive Directors Emiritate, lectured and consulted in Norway beginning in 1989. They gave keynote addresses at the annual conference of the Norwegian Association for Behavior Analysts in 1991 and in subsequent years, students from Akershus College in Oslo complete three-month internships at PCDI.
In 1992, PCDI’s executive directors spent a month at Deakin University in Melbourne, where they helped design research projects on staff training and on mainstreaming children with autism and other developmental disabilities. In addition, Regina Ledo, a specialist in early intervention from Perth, did a pre-doctoral residency at the Institute.