Meeting the Needs of Young Hispanic Autistic Children

Description

Study Description:

* Participants: 200 Hispanic autistic children experiencing low income and their caregivers will be randomly assigned to one of two groups in parallel:

1. Group 1: CLR-Pathways Intervention with mutual gaze strategies.
2. Group 2: CLR-Pathways Intervention without mutual gaze strategies.
* Intervention Sessions: Participants will attend 16 sessions, each lasting 1.5 hours, over approximately 18 weeks (allowing for possible cancellations) of parent-mediated intervention in their homes or another convenient location.

Assessments: To track progress and evaluate long-term effects, participants will undergo several culturally and linguistically appropriate assessments at three time points:

1. Baseline: Within two weeks before starting the intervention.
2. Post-Intervention: Within two weeks after completing the intervention.
3. Three-Month Follow-Up: 12-15 weeks after completing the intervention.

Each evaluation will take approximately 2-3 hours and will include:

* Child Assessments:

* Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2; Lord et al., 2012): Researchers will use the ADOS-2 to assess communication, social interaction, play, and restricted/repetitive behaviors and to confirm a research diagnosis of autism (administered only at baseline)
* Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Fourth Edition (Bayley-4; Bayley & Aylward, 2019): Researchers will use the Bayley-4 to measure cognitive and motor skills (administered only at baseline)
* Preschool Language Scales, Fifth Edition (PLS-5; Zimmerman et al., 2011): Researchers will use the English or Spanish version of the PLS-5 to assess receptive language age (administered only at baseline)
* Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales-Developmental Profile (CSBS-DP; Wetherby & Prizant, 2002): Researchers will use the CSBS-DP to evaluate social communication.
* Caregiver Questionnaires:

* PhenX Toolkit Core Measures (PhenX; Hamilton et al., 2011): Researchers will use the PhenX to collect family and child demographic information, including parents’ and grandparents’ place of birth.
* Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales, Third Edition (VABS-III; Sparrow et al., 2016): Researchers will use the VABS-III to assess adaptive functioning.
* Post-intervention Social Validity Questionnaire (Rollins et al., 2016): Researchers will use a questionnaire from a previous intervention efficacy study to assess the social validity of the intervention.

The CSBS-DP and VABS-III have been validated as appropriate measures for determining meaningful changes in children with or at high risk for autism, based on previous research.

• Video-Recorded Measures:

* Adult-Child Interactions (ACIs): Twelve-minute recordings will be transcribed and coded for social orienting, the Fluency and Connectedness and Joint Engagement measures of the Joint Engagement Rating Inventory (JERI; Adamson et al., 2020), intentional communication (EC Indicator; Greenwood et al., 2006), and expressive language.
* Parent-Child Interactions (PCIs): Twelve-minute naturalistic recordings will be coded for the Parent Calm Authority and Child Affiliative Obedience measures of the JERI.