Overview
Infant/toddler siblings of autistic children have a higher likelihood for language delays and/or autism. Sibwatch tests different adaptive interventions that provide different combinations of developmental monitoring, pre-emptive intervention, and parent coaching to understand the best way to monitor and support intervention in this population before a diagnosis can be confirmed.
Purpose
The purpose of the Sibwatch project is to identify the acceptability, feasibility, and initial effects of each adaptive intervention approach and make recommendations for a larger-scale study.
Procedures
A total of 44 participants are being recruited to participate in this telehealth intervention study. Participants are randomly assigned to receive developmental monitoring or the pre-emptive intervention. Following the first 8 weeks of participation, participants are assessed for developmental concerns. Participants who do not have demonstrated developmental delays continue with developmental monitoring or receive booster phone calls. Participants who are demonstrating developmental delays are randomly assigned, again, to receive either the pre-emptive intervention or a higher dosage of the intervention.
Participants
11- to 18-month-olds with an older autistic sibling
Outcomes
The parents’ implementation of language facilitation strategies, the child’s social communication, and the parents’ acceptability of the intervention and study procedures