Social and Communication Outcomes for Young Children With Autism

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Autism Spectrum Disorder

In brief

The goal of this project is to test an intervention program for caregivers and their young children with autism that is focused on improving social communication. This study specifically targets underserved populations, specifically children from low SES and racial/ethnic minority families. Participants will include 40 children (aged 24 months to 60 months) and their caregivers who will be randomized (as if by flipping a coin) to one of the two treatments: Parent education sessions for two hours a week for 12 weeks or parent-child intervention sessions with the child for one hour, twice a week for 12 weeks. Young children with autism have difficulty with engaging in joint attention with others (e.g. pointing, showing. Joint attention skills are important to later development of language. Therefore, targeting this problem in young children may result in better language outcomes for these children. In order to examine the effects of the interventions, all participants will be complete cognitive, language, communication and play-based assessments prior to treatment, at the end of the first 12 weeks of the intervention, and post-treatment immediately following the intervention (approximately 2.5 to 3 hours each).

Key facts

Study ID

NCT00953095

Run by

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

People needed

112

Starts

2009-04-01

Expected to finish

2011-12-01

Last updated by the study team

2014-09-25

Who can join

Age: 2 and older, up to 5. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Children must be between 24 months and 60 months at entry into the study
• Children must have a clinical diagnosis of autism or PDD-NOS, and/or meet criteria on the ADOS for ASD or autism
• Children must have an age equivalent of 12 months or greater for non-verbal ability based on the Mullen Visual Reception and Fine Motor scales
• Caregiver and child must be available for all assessments
• Children must be able to walk independently
• Parents must be between the ages of 16 and 50 years old
• Family should be currently underserved (inability to obtain services for their child) and have limited family resources

You may not qualify if…

• Children must not have a seizure disorder
• Children must not have associated sensory (uncorrected hearing loss greater than 20 db or vision loss) or physical disorders that restrict mobility (e.g., cerebral palsy)
• Children must not have sustained a head injury
• Children's diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder must not be comorbid with other medical syndromes (e.g., Tuberose Sclerosis, Neurofibromatosis, Down syndrome, fragile X) or diseases
• Children must not be in foster care
• English must be the primary language spoken at home
• Parents must not have a psychiatric diagnosis or a diagnosis of mental retardation

Where it is running

• University of California, Los Angles — Los Angeles, California, United States
• Florida State University — Tallahassee, Florida, United States
• Kennedy Krieger Institute — Baltimore, Maryland, United States
• University of Michigan — Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
• University of Washington — Seattle, Washington, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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