LEAP (an acronym for Learning Experiences - An Alternative Program for Preschoolers and Parents) is a comprehensive, multi-component, educational programme in which small groups of autistic children are taught alongside a small number of typically developing children.
LEAP is based on the idea that autistic children will learn better in integrated settings alongside their typically developing peers provided that those peers have been taught how to help them.
LEAP aims to help children to reach their full potential so they are best able to benefit from mainstream education. The LEAP curriculum is designed to concentrate on the development of functional skills, independent play, social interaction, pre-academics, language skills and adaptive behaviour.
Each autistic child has an individually designed educational plan, which includes the mainstream curriculum, as well as specific, personalised objectives.
There is a very small amount of high quality research evidence (two large, multi-site controlled trials) and a small amount of low quality research (six single-case design studies with three or more participants) into the use of LEAP for pre-school autistic children.
This research suggests that LEAP may be an effective way to improve the social communication skills of some pre-school autistic children.
There is insufficient evidence to determine if LEAP provides any benefits in other areas (such as a reduction in repetitive and restricted behaviours, interests and activities) to pre-school autistic children.
There could be dangers if LEAP is applied without following the relatively strict guidance, specifically if it is confused with putting children into mainstream schools with little or no support.
There is a need for more research into LEAP which uses scientifically robust, experimental methodologies. That research should investigate whether LEAP is more or less effective than other comprehensive, multi-component, educational interventions (such as TEACCH), and which components of LEAP, if any, are more likely to benefit specific autistic individuals.
Please read our Disclaimer on Autism Interventions
LEAP was designed for pre-school children aged three to five, some of whom are autistic and some of who are not. For example, according to the Watson Institute (2010),
“Typically developing children age 3-5 who have no need for early intervention services are an integral component of LEAP Preschool. The curriculum is developmentally appropriate, helping to prepare them for kindergarten and beyond.” This is because LEAP “focuses on enhancing the skills of children with autism through interaction and play with typically-developing peers.”
LEAP is designed to achieve a number of aims. For example, according to the Watson Institute (2010),
“The goal of LEAP Preschool is for all children to reach their full potential so they are best able to benefit from the curriculum in their home school district.”
and
“To best meet the needs of children with autism, the preschool curriculum is supplemented with learning activities and instructional strategies specifically designed to concentrate on the development of functional skills, independent play, social interaction, pre-academics, language skills and adaptive behavior.”
There have been various claims made for the use of LEAP as an intervention for pre-school autistic children. For example, Strain and Bovey (2011) claimed
“… (a) Children in LEAP generally show significant reductions in autistic symptoms after 2 years of intervention, comparison children do not; (b) children in LEAP make marked developmental progress on intellectual and language measures, comparison children do not; (c) on observational measures taken in school and at home, LEAP children are far more socially engaged and appropriate; (d) no negative and some positive (e.g. better social skills and fewer disruptive behaviors) outcomes accrue to typical children in the LEAP model; (e) gains for LEAP children maintain following program participation with 24 of 51 children enrolled in regular education classes with no signs of developmental regression; and (f) adult family members who participated in LEAP are significantly less likely than comparison families to show signs of significant stress and depression following the early intervention experience.”
LEAP (an acronym for Learning Experiences - An Alternative Program for Preschoolers and Parents) is a comprehensive, multi-component, educational programme in which small groups of autistic children are taught alongside a small number of typically developing children.
LEAP is based on the idea that autistic children will learn better in integrated settings alongside their typically developing peers provided that those peers have been taught how to help them.
LEAP aims to help children to reach their full potential so they are best able to benefit from mainstream education. The LEAP curriculum is designed to concentrate on the development of functional skills, independent play, social interaction, pre-academics, language skills and adaptive behaviour.
Each autistic child has an individually designed educational plan, which includes the mainstream curriculum, as well as specific, personalised objectives.
According to Strain and Bovey (2011),
“The LEAP model has a number of unique features that contribute to its effectiveness and relatively lower costs. These features include the following:
“1. Inclusion begins full-time from Day 1 in LEAP preschool classrooms. Children with ASD are provided with the necessary level(s) of prompting, classroom and curricular adaptations and modifications, and general support to participate immediately in peer-mediated social skill intervention.
“2. The design of LEAP classrooms begins with establishing a setting of high quality for typically developing children. LEAP has been implemented effectively in classrooms utilizing a variety of preschool models and curricula … In the context of this programming, systematic intervention is embedded in typical preschool routines (e.g. circle time, free play/centers, snack, small groups, etc.) with the aim of offering hundreds of meaningful, socially relevant learning opportunities every day.
“3. Typically developing children play a major intervention role in LEAP. The typically developing children are provided with comprehensive social skills training such that they can facilitate the social and communicative behaviors of peers with ASD. This systematic, peer-mediated instruction has been shown to produce a Day-1 intervention effect for the children with ASD.
“4. Learning objectives are written in such a fashion that teaching continues until generalized behavior change is achieved. Learning objectives are further described according to relevant prompting hierarchies. Thus, program data are collected on children’s behavioral movement toward the rigorous standard of independent, generalized performance, not in terms of percentage correct, trials accomplished, or similar indices. Data are reviewed daily and strict decision-making rules demand intervention changes in the absence of clear behavior change.
“5. Skill training for families focuses on providing adult family members with the behavioral teaching strategies sufficient for them to experience less stress and more pleasure in daily routines, such as meals, bedtime, dressing, and community outings.
“6. Intensity in the LEAP model is not defined by hours per week that individuals are paid to deliver service. We believe that the algorithm defining intensity is complex and includes, for each developmental domain of concern, the following factors: (a) number of meaningful opportunities to respond, (b) the functionality of objectives chosen, (c) the selection of an instructional method that maximizes children’s engagement and minimizes errors, (d) the competence of staff to deliver with fidelity the chosen intervention, and (e) the use of data systems and decision-making rules that minimize children’s exposure to less-than optimal interventions.
“7. LEAP is unique in that we utilize a variety of science-based intervention approaches, including (a) peer-mediated interventions, (b) errorless learning, (c) time delay, (d) incidental teaching, (e) pivotal response training, (f) picture exchange communication system, and (g) positive behavior support. We believe the enormous heterogeneity of ASD precludes the use of one or a few instructional approaches. “
The major costs of using LEAP are the salaries and associated costs of the teaching staff at the school where LEAP is delivered.
According to Strain and Bovey (2011),
“The resource allocation implications are nothing less than profound as LEAP’s costs are estimated at US$20,000 per child per year versus between US$45,575 and US$69,050 for one-on-one, discrete-trial methods.”
There may also be costs for any training that is undertaken (which may include travel, accommodation and learning materials), and any equipment and materials used.
LEAP is designed to be delivered over half a day on every school day during the school term. According to the Watson Institute (2010),
“Sessions are 2 1/2 hours long, 5 days a week in the morning or afternoon, 11 months a year.”
There are no known hazards for LEAP.
There are no known contraindications (something which makes a particular treatment or procedure potentially inadvisable) for LEAP. However there could be dangers if LEAP is applied without following the relatively strict guidance, specifically if it is confused with putting children into mainstream schools with little or no support.
The Watson Institute has three LEAP preschool locations in Pennsylvania. A number of other schools in the US have now adopted the LEAP model, either by undertaking the training provided by the Watson Institute or by purchasing the relevant manuals. We have been unable to identify any providers of LEAP in other countries.
Teachers and other professionals involved in LEAP, such as speech and language therapists, will have a range of different credentials and qualifications.
Other people, including parents and other members of the family, may also be involved. They do not need any formal qualifications, although most will have studied the materials published by the Watson Institute or attended one or more of their courses.
However, Strain and Bovey (2011) reported that it took two years before most teachers were able to implement LEAP as it was designed to be used.
The LEAP approach was developed by Strain, Kohler, and colleagues at Allegheny-Singer Research Institute in Pennsylvania in the US in the 1980’s.
It has since been implemented by a number of providers, the best known of which is probably the Watson Institute in Pennsylvania.
We have identified nine studies of LEAP published in English-language, peer-reviewed journals. These studies included more than 500 autistic children aged from three to five, although the majority of these children came from just two studies (Strain and Bovey, 2011 with 294 participants; Boyd et al, 2014 with 198 participants).
The study by Strain and Bovey (2011) compared two versions of LEAP with each other: the full-scale LEAP replication training or a comparison condition in which staff were provided with LEAP intervention manuals and related written materials only. It included 294 pre-school children and was conducted in 56 classrooms in seven different states within the US. It reported that the children who received the full version of LEAP were found to have made significantly greater improvement than the other group on measures of cognitive, language, social, and problem behaviour, and autism symptoms.
The study by Boyd et al (2014) compared LEAP with TEACCH and with non-model specific practices (standard teaching). It included 198 pre-school children and was conducted in 74 different classrooms in four different states within the US. It reported that each of the three interventions produced significant benefits such as improvements in autism characteristics and severity, communication skills and reciprocal social interactions. None of the three interventions produced any changes in sensory and repetitive behaviours.The other studies all looked at various early versions of LEAP and all of them reported gains in areas such as social communication skills.
There are a number of limitations to all of the research studies published to date. For example
For a comprehensive list of potential flaws in research studies, please see Why some autism research studies are flawed
We have been unable to identify any studies into LEAP that are currently underway. If you know of any other studies we should include please email info@researchautism.net with the details.
There is a very small amount of high quality research evidence (two large, multi-site controlled trials) and a small amount of low quality research (six single-case design studies with three or more participants) into the use of LEAP for pre-school autistic children.
This research suggests that LEAP may be an effective way to improve the social communication skills of some pre-school autistic children.
There is insufficient evidence to determine if LEAP provides any benefits in other areas (such as a reduction in repetitive and restricted behaviours, interests and activities) to pre-school autistic children.
There is a need for more research into LEAP which uses scientifically robust, experimental methodologies.
That research should investigate whether LEAP is more or less effective than other comprehensive, multi-component, educational interventions (such as TEACCH), and which components of LEAP, if any, are more likely to benefit specific autistic individuals.
That research should be undertaken by researchers who are independent of the interventions being studied. That research should also involve autistic people and their parents and carers in the design, development and evaluation of those studies.
This section provides details of scientific studies into the effectiveness of LEAP for autistic people which have been published in English-language, peer-reviewed journals. You may be able to find more studies on LEAP in our publications database.
If you know of any other studies we should include in this section or in our publications database please email info@researchautism.net with the details.
If you know of any other publications we should list on this page please email info@informationautism.org
Please note that we are unable to supply publications unless we are listed as the publisher. However, if you are a UK resident you may be able to obtain them from your local public library, your college library or direct from the publisher.
This section provides details of other publications on autism and LEAP. You may be able to find more publications on LEAP in our publications database.
If you know of any other publications we should list on this page please email info@informationautism.org
Please note that we are unable to supply publications unless we are listed as the publisher. However, if you are a UK resident you may be able to obtain them from your local public library, your college library or direct from the publisher.
According to Boyd et al (2014), in their comparison of LEAP, TEACCH and standard teaching practices
“All three programs were found to produce statistically significant changes in children’s outcomes across the school year. This finding may shift the field’s thinking around [comprehensive treatment models] designed for students with ASD. Perhaps it is not the unique features of the models that most contribute to child gains; instead it is the common features of the models that most influence child growth… Early analysis of the overlap of scores on the fidelity measures indicate that perhaps those components common to the intervention approaches (e.g. classroom organization, teacher interaction with students and families) account for outcomes more than components that are unique to each approach (e.g. peermediated instruction in LEAP classrooms, structured work systems in TEACCH classrooms)”.