TY - JOUR
T1 - Outcomes of children receiving Group-Early Start Denver Model in an inclusive versus autism-specific setting
T2 - A pilot randomized controlled trial
AU - the Victorian ASELCC Team
AU - Vivanti, Giacomo
AU - Dissanayake, Cheryl
AU - Duncan, Ed
AU - Feary, Jessica
AU - Capes, Kristy
AU - Upson, Shannon
AU - Bent, Catherine A.
AU - Rogers, Sally J
AU - Hudry, Kristelle
AU - Jones, Carolyne
AU - Bajwa, Harpreet
AU - Marshall, Abby
AU - Maya, Jacqueline
AU - Pye, Katherine
AU - Reynolds, Jennifer
AU - Rodset, Dianna
AU - Toscano, Gabrielle
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - A major topic of debate is whether children with autism spectrum disorder should be educated in inclusive or specialized settings. We examined the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of delivering the Group-Early Start Denver Model to children with autism spectrum disorder in inclusive versus specialized classrooms. We randomly assigned 44 preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder to receive the Group-Early Start Denver Model across one school calendar year in classrooms that included only children with autism spectrum disorder or mostly children who were typically developing. Blind-rated indicators of teaching quality showed similar results across settings, which were above the local benchmark. Children showed improvements across blinded proximal measures of spontaneous vocalization, social interaction, and imitation and across distal measures of verbal cognition, adaptive behavior, and autism symptoms irrespective of intervention setting. Mothers of participants experienced a reduction in stress irrespective of child intervention setting. Across both settings, age at intervention start was negatively associated with gains in verbal cognition. Delivery of Group-Early Start Denver Model in an inclusive setting appeared to be feasible, with no significant differences in teaching quality and child improvements when the program was implemented in inclusive versus specialized classrooms.
AB - A major topic of debate is whether children with autism spectrum disorder should be educated in inclusive or specialized settings. We examined the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of delivering the Group-Early Start Denver Model to children with autism spectrum disorder in inclusive versus specialized classrooms. We randomly assigned 44 preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder to receive the Group-Early Start Denver Model across one school calendar year in classrooms that included only children with autism spectrum disorder or mostly children who were typically developing. Blind-rated indicators of teaching quality showed similar results across settings, which were above the local benchmark. Children showed improvements across blinded proximal measures of spontaneous vocalization, social interaction, and imitation and across distal measures of verbal cognition, adaptive behavior, and autism symptoms irrespective of intervention setting. Mothers of participants experienced a reduction in stress irrespective of child intervention setting. Across both settings, age at intervention start was negatively associated with gains in verbal cognition. Delivery of Group-Early Start Denver Model in an inclusive setting appeared to be feasible, with no significant differences in teaching quality and child improvements when the program was implemented in inclusive versus specialized classrooms.
KW - autism
KW - community participatory research
KW - early intervention
KW - Early Start Denver Model
KW - pilot randomized controlled trial
KW - social inclusion
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059300610&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85059300610&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1362361318801341
DO - 10.1177/1362361318801341
M3 - Article
C2 - 30296845
AN - SCOPUS:85059300610
JO - Autism
JF - Autism
SN - 1362-3613
ER -