Learning through Interaction in Children with Autism: Preliminary Data from a Social-Communication-Based Intervention

• Published in: Autism : the international journal of research and practice 2013-03, Vol.17 (2), p.220-241
• Main Authors: Casenhiser, Devin M, Shanker, Stuart G, Stieben, Jim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Affective Behavior; Attention; Autism; Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule; Bayley Scales of Infant Development; Biological and medical sciences; Canada; Child clinical studies; Communication Skills; Comparative Analysis; Compliance (Psychology); Developmental disorders; Educational Attainment; Family Income; Family Programs; Foreign Countries; Infantile autism; Interaction; Interpersonal Communication; Interpersonal Relationship; Intervention; Language Acquisition; Language Usage; Marital Status; Medical sciences; Mothers; Ontario (Toronto); Parent Child Relationship; Parents; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Preschool Language Scale; Program Effectiveness; Psychological Patterns; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Skill Development; Social Development; Therapy; Thinking Skills; Wechsler Preschool Primary Scale of Intelligence; Young Children
• ISSN: 1362-3613; 1461-7005
• DOI: 10.1177/1362361311422052

The study evaluates a social-communication-based approach to autism intervention aimed at improving the social interaction skills of children with autism spectrum disorder. We report preliminary results from an ongoing randomized controlled trial of 51 children aged 2 years 0 months to 4 years 11 months. Participants were assigned to either a target treatment or community treatment group. Families in the target treatment group were given 2 hours of therapy and coaching each week in an intervention emphasizing social-interaction and the parent-child relationship. Children in the community treatment group received a variety of services averaging 3.9?hours per week. After 12 months, outcomes were measured to determine changes in the groups in social interaction and communication. In addition, a regression analysis was conducted to determine whether changes in social interaction skills were associated with language development. Results suggest that children in the treatment group made significantly greater gains in social interaction skills in comparison to the community treatment group, but no between-group differences were found for standard language assessments. Initiation of joint attention, involvement, and severity of language delay were found to be significantly associated with improvement of language skills in children with autism. Finally caregiver skills targeted by the intervention were found to be significantly associated with changes in children's interaction skills. (Contains 4 tables and 2 notes.)