Dissemination of Early Intervention Program for Preschool Children on the Autism Spectrum into Community Settings: An Evaluation

Anne Masi, Syeda Ishra Azim, Feroza Khan, Lisa Karlov and Valsamma Eapen
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Anne Masi: School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
Syeda Ishra Azim: School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
Feroza Khan: School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
Lisa Karlov: School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
Valsamma Eapen: School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-10

Abstract: We aimed to address a policy-relevant research area with high priority, namely disseminating early intervention for children on the autism spectrum into mainstream community settings. The study cohort comprised 47 children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) receiving the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) intervention: 23 children attending an Autism Specific Early Learning and Care Centre (ASELCC) and 24 children attending a mainstream preschool setting. Group comparisons revealed that the overall response to intervention was in the majority of cases not significantly different between settings. One difference was found in that children in the mainstream preschool setting showed a significant reduction in externalising behaviours compared to the children attending the autism-specific preschool. Intervention duration was found to influence outcomes with a one-month increase in duration found to improve expressive language skills. While the results need to be interpreted with caution due to the small sample size, these findings suggest that early intervention can be successfully delivered in both autism-specific and mainstream settings. However, those families needing additional parent support may be better served by a specialised service.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; early learning centre; Early Start Denver Model; intervention; change; early childhood (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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