NCT01591707

Evaluating a Social and Communication Intervention for Preschoolers

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 700 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger, Inc. · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 3 Years – 6 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of a school-based treatment aimed at increasing language and social skills in preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Through interactive development (continually seeking educator feedback for intervention improvement) and implementation of the intervention, the investigators hope to provide a feasible and practical means for educators to work with children with ASD in real world, large scale settings. ASD preschool educators, the children enrolled in their classes, between the ages of 3 and 6 years and their families may join.

Detailed description

In Phase 4, KKI staff trained Delaware preschool teachers to serve as model coaches and educators through the Delaware Autism Program. Families whose children were enrolled in participating classrooms were consented through DAP using the school's consent to be videotaped. Any families who did not consent for their child to be videotaped for this training received the nonparticipant consent form currently utilized in this study and staff videotaping took every effort to keep those children out of frame when taping. This cohort involved KKI study team members training 1-2 coaches, who then trained five Delaware school teachers. The IES model was implemented in the teacher's classrooms (n= 5-10 students participating in each classroom; 20-40 children total). In the current phase of the study, Phase 5 and 6, KKI study team members will continue the evaluation of the IES model, by testing the efficacy of the intervention model in a larger sample (Phase 5) and then analyzing the corresponding data (Phase 6). The larger efficacy study (phase 5) will be conducted on teachers and students recruited from public school districts in Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania using the same IES model and recruitment methods in the previous phases.

Conditions

• Autism Spectrum Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	ISC+PRT Intervention	Teachers will be trained to implement an intervention in preschool ASD classrooms that provides a learning environment in which social and communication skills are focused on.

Timeline

• Start date: 2012-07-01
• Primary completion: 2020-09-01
• Completion: 2020-12-15
• First posted: 2012-05-04
• Last updated: 2026-03-24

Locations

3 sites across 1 country: United States