Effectiveness of Early Intervention in an Underserved Population
Condition: Autism Spectrum Disorders
MeSH terms: Autistic Disorder; Autism Spectrum Disorder
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The purpose of this study is to test the applicability of a caregiver-implemented autism
      intervention protocol to a deliberately recruited low-income, underserved population.
    

Detailed description: 
      Families of racial/ethnic minority, lower levels of education, and those who live in
      non-metropolitan areas have been found to experience greater limitations in accessing
      services for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (Thomas, Ellis, McLaurin, Daniels, & Morrissey,
      2007). Black and Hispanic children have been found to have lower odds of having a documented
      ASD classification than white children (Mandell, Wiggins, Arnstein Carpenter, Daniels, Durkin
      et al., 2009) and of those children who do receive an ASD diagnosis, many of them are not
      diagnosed in early childhood. The age of first ASD diagnosis received has been found to be
      significantly higher for African American and Latino children compared to white children
      (Mandell, Listerud, Levy, & Pinto-Martin, 2002). For these reasons, it is important that the
      effectiveness of intensive early intervention for children with ASD is examined across
      varying cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.

      This project is directed by Dr. Catherine Lord at the University of Michigan, in
      collaboration with Dr. Amy Wetherby at Florida State University to test the applicability of
      a modified caregiver-implemented autism intervention (Modified Early Social Interaction; ESI)
      to a deliberately recruited low-income, underserved population. UM will recruit 28 children
      and FSU will recruit 16 children diagnosed with ASD who are between 24 and 42 months of age
      over a period of 3 years, totaling 44 caregiver-child dyads. This study will utilize a
      multiple baseline single-subject research design. Dyads will complete 1 month of weekly
      1-hour baseline observations followed by three months of the modified ESI intervention. Child
      and family characteristics predicting response to intervention will be identified and
      findings will contribute to the development of autism interventions serving families from
      diverse backgrounds.
    

Intervention name(s): ESI - Community Outreach
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): This is an individualized caregiver-implemented intervention (ESI-CO) offered in 2 weekly sessions to teach caregivers how to embed strategies to support social communication skills within everyday routines, activities, and places for 3 months. Additionally, families receive 6 months (3 months during weekly home sessions and three months upon the completion of weekly home sessions) of resource support to identify local and community autism programs available for continued intervention and services.
Other intervention name(s): Modified ESI
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: autism; autism spectrum disorders; pervasive developmental disorders; intervention; low-income; underserved populations; underrepresented populations