Knowledge Bank

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) exhibit characteristic impairments in social communication (DSM-V). There are presently numerous intervention studies that aim to improve social communication skills in young children with ASD, however, a majority of these studies are conducted by highly skilled clinicians. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a classroom teacher instructing parents of toddlers with ASD how to help their child increase their spontaneous word production. A pre-post single-case controlled design consisting of three families and one teacher was used. Caregivers were taught to facilitate short, repeatable routines and were videotaped in 10-min intervals interacting with their child in the home setting using toys present in the home. Each individual video was coded in one minute intervals and the presence of the following skills were noted: turn-taking present in the play routine, shared positive affect between the child and parent, whether the child chose the toy being played with at a given time and whether that toy was developmentally appropriate, if the parent produced any one or two word utterances, if the child and parent were engaged in a routine, and whether or not the parent was prompting the child’s actions. Results indicate that parents learned some of the measured strategies as a result of the intervention. The findings of this study suggest that teachers can effectively teach caregivers methods to expand their child’s communication.