Partners in School: An Implementation Strategy to Promote Alignment of Evidence-Based Practices Across Home and School for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Correlates of School-Home Communication From Caregivers of Children With Autism

School-home communication may be especially critical for families of children with autism given their tenuous partnerships with school professionals. In this study, we explored the child, caregiver, and family-professional partnership correlates of school-home communication. Data were collected from 179 caregivers of children with autism (age 3-21) via a national survey. Participants overwhelmingly reported having less than monthly communication with educators (i.e., general and special education teachers) despite wanting at least weekly communication. A preference for email communication negatively correlated with participants who were Black and/or from lower-income households, but this should be met with caution due to limited sample diversity. These findings indicate that it is necessary to attain a nuanced understanding of school-home communication and identify other potential correlates.

Generalisation of Social Communication Skills by Autistic Children During Play-Based Assessments Across Home, School and an Unfamiliar Research Setting

We investigated autistic children's generalisation of social communication over time across three settings during a play-based assessment with different adults and explore the potential moderating effects on generalisation of age, nonverbal IQ and level of restricted and repetitive behaviours. The social communication abilities of 248 autistic children (2-11 years, 21% female, 22% single parent, 60% white) from three UK sites were assessed from 1984 video interactions in three contexts with three different interaction partners (parent/home, teaching assistant/school, researcher/clinic) at baseline, midpoint (+ 7m) and endpoint (+ 12m) within the Paediatric Autism Communication Trial-Generalised (PACT-G), a parent-mediated social communication intervention. Children's midpoint social communication at home generalised to school at midpoint and to clinic at endpoint. Generalisation was stronger from home to school and clinic than school to home and clinic. Generalisation was not moderated by age, nonverbal IQ or restricted and repetitive behaviour. Broader child development did not explain the pattern of results. The current study is the largest study to date to explore generalisation with autistic children and provides novel insight into their generalisation of social communication skills. Further research is needed to gain a more comprehensive understanding of facilitators of generalisation across settings and interaction partners in order to develop targeted strategies for interventions to enhance outcomes for young autistic children.

Communication Training within Partners in School: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Usability

Partners in School is a consultation model adapted from Conjoint Behavioral Consultation where parents and teachers identify a mutual concern for children with Autism and then implement the same evidence-based practices (EBPs) across home and school. Adding parent-teacher communication training (School Talk) may bolster the effects of this consultation approach. The purpose of this study was to explore parents' and teachers' experiences with School Talk, as well as examine the clinical outcomes of Partners in School plus School Talk. Participants were 21 parents and 21 teachers (n=21 dyads, N=42 participants) of preschool to first-grade children with Autism. Results indicated that parents and teachers both rated School Talk as feasible and acceptable, but parents rated it as more usable. There was preliminary evidence that Partners in School with School Talk may be associated with improvements in parent-teacher communication, as well as reductions in the frequency of child concerns.

Exploring the use of a dance-based exergame to enhance autistic children's social communication skills in the home and school environments: a feasibility study

Purpose: Autistic individuals often display social-communicative differences affecting aspects of daily living. The present study assessed the feasibility and potential efficacy of a dance-based exergame for enhancing autistic children's social-communication skills. Methods: A mixed method, within-subject, pre-test/post-test study design was employed. Children in their home (n = 4; Mage = 8.25 years old, SD = 0.50) and school environments (n = 31; Mage = 10.87 years old, SD = 1.61) participated in a dance-based exergaming intervention (Just Dance) for six weeks. Results: A positive change in children's social-communication skills was observed (p < 0.01). Results suggest Just Dance was easy to implement and enjoyable. Conclusion: A larger randomised control trial is warranted to confirm the effectiveness of the dance-based exergame.

A method for defining the CORE of a psychosocial intervention to guide adaptation in practice: Reciprocal imitation teaching as a case example

LAY ABSTRACT

Interventions that support social communication include several "components," or parts (e.g. strategies for working with children and families, targeting specific skills). Some of these components may be essential for the intervention to work, while others may be recommended or viewed as helpful but not necessary for the intervention to work. "Recommended" components are often described as "adaptable" because they can be changed to improve fit in different settings where interventions are offered or with different individuals. We need to understand which parts of an intervention are essential (and which are adaptable) when translating interventions from research to community settings, but it is challenging to do this before studying an intervention in the community. This article presents the CORE (COmponents & Rationales for Effectiveness) Fidelity Method-a new method for defining the essential components of evidence-based interventions-and applies it to a case example of Reciprocal Imitation Teaching, an intervention that parents are taught to deliver with their young children with social communication delays. The CORE Fidelity Method involves three steps: (1) gathering information from multiple sources; (2) integrating information from previous research and theory; and (3) drafting a CORE model for ongoing use. The benefits of using the CORE Fidelity Method may include: (1) improving consistency in intervention and research materials to help all providers emphasize the most important skills or strategies; (2) clarifying which parts of the intervention can be adapted; and (3) supporting future research that evaluates which intervention components work and how they work.