EI+ASD Autism Field-Initiate Innovative Research Studies Program (Autism-FIRST), year 2
Project Description:
The purpose of the current project is to address health disparities through a robust investigation of a telehealth-enabled early diagnostic and intervention package for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who are waitlisted for evaluation or intervention services. Children and families face significant barriers to accessing both diagnostic evaluation of ASD and early intervention, resulting in an average age of diagnosis above 4 years old and delays in early intervention onset at an average of 9 months following diagnosis. Families in culturally and linguistically diverse groups and who reside in rural areas often face worsened access to these critical services. Our
project aims to investigate means to improve these health disparities through a telehealth-based evaluation and Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) delivered by caregivers with remote support from interventionists. Our project goals and objectives are eliminating health barriers by (1) investigating the effectiveness evaluation and intervention delivered via telehealth at improving child outcomes of communication, social-communication, and challenging behavior, (2) improving communication outcomes for children who are not verbally communicating, and (3) improving family quality of life, caregiver feelings of efficacy, and caregiver experiences of stress. Information obtained through the current project may be useful in developing and expanding early, parent-coaching interventions to help children with ASD and their families to access early intervention.
Core Function(s):
Performing Research or Evaluation
Area of Emphasis
Education & Early Intervention, Other
Target Audience:
Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
None
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
State, National
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
