News Release

Faculty member offers testimony at Senate hearing

April 3, 2008

Penn State Harrisburg Professor of Psychology Richard Foxx was the lone academic expert to offer testimony during a public hearing April 1 before the Pennsylvania Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on a bill to require private insurers to provide coverage for autism spectrum disorders up to $36,000 per year.

The bill (HB 1150) passed the Pennsylvania House previously by unanimous vote.

“This law, which is capped to balance the interests of helping kids with autism and the overall cost of health insurance, will end the discrimination that has existed for a number of years when private insurers stopped providing coverage,” Dr. Foxx states.

Dr. Foxx, an internationally recognized expert in treating behavioral problems including autism, offered testimony which included a detailed explanation of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) as it relates to autism. He noted ABA is a highly validated system in autism work and has been identified as the “treatment of choice.”

Dr. Foxx also emphasized that intervention should be intensive and started as early as possible with a systematic and thorough treatment plan. He described the process of ABA as one whose goal is to motivate a child to want to be successful.

Penn State Harrisburg’s School of Behavioral Sciences and Education is the only institution in the region offering master’s degree study in ABA.

Also offering testimony at the public hearing were: Secretary of the Department of Public Welfare Estelle Richman, President of the Insurance Federation of Pennsylvania Sam Marshall, State Director of the National Federation of Independent Businesses Kevin Shivers, Medical Director of Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania Dr. Thomas Curry, Managing Director of the Pennsylvania Health Law Project David Gates, Chief Operating Officer of the Vista Foundation James Bouder, Miss Pennsylvania 2007 Rachel Marie Brooks, who has an brother with autism, and two parents of children with autism.

In 2007, Dr. Foxx was presented the inaugural John W. Jacobson Award by the American Psychological Association for “meritorious contributions to the field of intellectual developmental disabilities in an area related to behavioral psychology, evidence-based practice, dual diagnosis, or public policy.”

He is a Fellow in five divisions of the American Psychological Association including Clinical, Behavior Analysis, Clinical Child and Adolescent, and Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and is past president of the Association for Behavior Analysis-International, the largest professional/scientific organization of behavior analysts in the world.

Dr. Foxx, who teaches in the college's Applied Behavior Analysis master's degree program, is the author of nine books, one which has sold more than 2 million copies and was translated into seven languages. He has written more than 130 scientific publications, has made 13 training films, and has given more than 1,500 talks on the use of behavioral principles to treat individuals with autism, mental retardation, mental illness, emotional disturbances, and typical development. One of his training films, 'Harry," about the treatment of a self-abusive man, has won numerous cinematic awards.