Tulare SELPA - Autism Resources

Educational Intervention Approaches

Denver Model
at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center

This program originally opened in 1981 as the Playschool Model, which was a demonstration day treatment program. This developmentally oriented instructional approach is based on the premise that play is a primary vehicle for learning social, emotional, communicative, and cognitive skills during early childhood. The role of the adult and the purpose of play activities vary across learning objectives. The overarching curriculum goals are to increase cognitive levels, particularly in the area of symbolic functions; increase communication through gestures, signs, and words; and enhance social and emotional growth through interpersonal relationships with adults and peers. In 1998, the treatment unit was closed, and the intervention format was changed to the more natural contexts available in home and preschool environments with typical peers (Rogers et al., 2000).

Website hosting courtesy of
Tulare County Office of Education
Jim Vidak, County Superintendent of Schools