Ole Ivar Lovaas

Ole Ivar Løvaas (8 May 1927 – 2 August 2010) was a Norwegian-American clinical psychologist and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is most well known for his research on what is now called applied behavior analysis (ABA) to teach autistic children through prompts, modeling, and positive reinforcement. His application of the science was also noted for its use of aversives (punishment) to reduce undesired behavior, which are no longer supported as a part of most ABA treatment plans.

Løvaas founded the Lovaas Institute. He is also considered a pioneer of ABA due to his development of discrete trial training and early intensive behavioral intervention for autistic children.

His work influenced how autism is treated, and Løvaas received widespread acclaim and several awards during his lifetime, but also strong criticisms from many autistic self advocates and researchers supporting the autism rights movement and neurodiversity paradigm. Provided by Wikipedia