Randomized controlled caregiver mediated joint engagement intervention for toddlers with autism.
This study aimed to determine if a joint attention intervention would result in greater joint engagement between caregivers and toddlers with autism. The intervention consisted of 24 caregiver-mediated sessions with follow-up 1 year later. Compared to caregivers and toddlers randomized to the waitlist control group the immediate treatment (IT) group made significant improvements in targeted areas of joint engagement. The IT group demonstrated significant improvements with medium to large effect sizes in their responsiveness to joint attention and their diversity of functional play acts after the intervention with maintenance of these skills 1 year post-intervention. These are among the first randomized controlled data to suggest that short-term parent-mediated interventions can have important effects on core impairments in toddlers with autism. Clinical Trials #: NCT00065910.
Kasari
Connie
C
Division of Psychological Studies in Education, University of California Los Angeles, 3132 Moore Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. kasari@gseis.ucla.edu
Gulsrud
Amanda C
AC
Wong
Connie
C
Kwon
Susan
S
Locke
Jill
J
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D017028:Caregivers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D010988:Play and Playthings / Q000523:psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome