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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (70 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UC Davis Previously Published Works (2014)
    Cover page: Effective strategies by any other name
    • Thesis
    • Peer Reviewed
    UC Davis Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2022)

    Background: Parent participation in early intervention is a leading evidence-based practice in autism, but the strategies parents learn vary by intervention (Ingersoll, 2010; Oono et al., 2013). Two different evidence-based intervention approaches—structured behavioral interventions and naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI)—are most frequently utilized. These approaches differ in the methods they emphasize in parent-delivery of the intervention. Both types of interventions rely on adapting adult-child interactions to increase access to learning opportunities for the child, but little attention has been paid to how parent behaviors vary as a function of intervention approach. To our knowledge, no studies have compared parent implementation of structured behavioral and NDBI interventions.Methods: This study compares the parent-child interactions for 80 parent-child dyads with children with ASD. Parents received coaching in a structured behavioral intervention, Discrete Trial Training (DTT) and the manualized Parent Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) as part of a larger study in which children received intensive, therapist-implement treatment of either DTT or ESDM. Video recordings were collected monthly for 12 months of a toy play activity between the parent and child. We coded 287 videos from months 1, 4, 8, and 12 for: (1) parent sensitivity/responsivity; (2) the variety, frequency, and quality of learning opportunities provided and the use of motivational strategies; and (3) the child’s dyadic engagement with the goal of understanding the effects of intervention training on the parent-child interaction. Results: Parent sensitivity/responsivity started high and did not improve significantly over the intervention. Change in parent sensitivity/responsivity was associated with higher child engagement. Parents in both conditions improved equally in their delivery of all learning opportunities strategies with motivational strategies most strongly predicting greater child engagement, even when controlling for sensitivity/responsivity. Conclusions: Parent sensitivity/responsivity is an important component of child dyadic engagement to consider and to examine in initial assessments Focusing solely on parent sensitivity/responsivity as a primary mechanism for child engagement may not be sufficient. Focusing on parent teaching strategies inside learning opportunities, especially child motivation, has a positive impact on increasing child dyadic engagement. As researchers and community practitioners endeavor to support parents of children on the autism spectrum, these findings may help inform coaching programs.

      Cover page: Examining mechanisms of parent mediated intervention with toddlers on the autism spectrum
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC Davis Previously Published Works (2015)
        Cover page: Moving towards a more ecologically valid model of parent-implemented interventions in autism
        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC Davis Previously Published Works (2014)
        Presently there is no consensus on the specific behavioral treatment of choice for targeting language in young nonverbal children with autism. This randomized clinical trial compared the effectiveness of a verbally-based intervention, Pivotal Response Training (PRT) to a pictorially-based behavioral intervention, the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) on the acquisition of spoken language by young (2-4 years), nonverbal or minimally verbal (≤9 words) children with autism. Thirty-nine children were randomly assigned to either the PRT or PECS condition. Participants received on average 247 h of intervention across 23 weeks. Dependent measures included overall communication, expressive vocabulary, pictorial communication and parent satisfaction. Children in both intervention groups demonstrated increases in spoken language skills, with no significant difference between the two conditions. Seventy-eight percent of all children exited the program with more than 10 functional words. Parents were very satisfied with both programs but indicated PECS was more difficult to implement.
          Cover page: A Randomized Trial Comparison of the Effects of Verbal and Pictorial Naturalistic Communication Strategies on Spoken Language for Young Children with Autism
          • Article
          • Peer Reviewed
          UC Davis Previously Published Works (2021)
          The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is an evidence-based early intervention approach for young children with autism spectrum disorder. Although the ESDM is described by its authors as being rooted in applied behavior analysis (ABA), some states, agencies, and scholars consider the ESDM to qualify as ABA practice, whereas others do not. The purpose of this article is to examine the status of the ESDM in relation to the 7 dimensions established by Baer, Wolf, and Risley ("Some Current Dimensions of Applied Behavior Analysis," Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1): 91-97, 1968) to define applied behavior-analytic research and intervention, as well as to discuss implications for the field.
            Cover page: Can the Early Start Denver Model Be Considered ABA Practice?
            • Article
            • Peer Reviewed
            UC San Diego Previously Published Works (2012)
            Abstract Background Currently, 1 out of 88 children are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and the estimated cost for treatment services is $126 billion annually. Typically, ASD community providers (ASD-CPs) provide services to children with any severity of ASD symptoms using a combination of various treatment paradigms, some with an evidence-base and some without. When evidence-based practices (EBPs) are successfully implemented by ASD-CPs, they can result in positive outcomes. Despite this promise, EBPs are often implemented unsuccessfully and other treatments used by ASD-CPs lack supportive evidence, especially for school-age children with ASD. While it is not well understood why ASD-CPs are not implementing EBPs, organizational and individual characteristics likely play a role. As a response to this need and to improve the lives of children with ASD and their families, this study aims to develop and test the feasibility and acceptability of the Autism Model of Implementation (AMI) to support the implementation of EBPs by ASD-CPs. Methods/design An academic-community collaboration developed to partner with ASD-CPs will facilitate the development of the AMI, a process specifically for use by ASD community-based agencies. Using a mixed methods approach, the project will assess agency and individual factors likely to facilitate or hinder implementing EBPs in this context; develop the AMI to address identified barriers and facilitators; and pilot test the AMI to examine its feasibility and acceptability using a specific EBP to treat anxiety disorders in school-age children with ASD. Discussion The AMI will represent a data-informed approach to facilitate implementation of EBPs by ASD-CPs by providing an implementation model specifically developed for this context. This study is designed to address the real-world implications of EBP implementation in ASD community-based agencies. In doing so, the AMI will help to provide children with ASD the best and most effective services in their own community. Moreover, the proposed study will positively impact the field of implementation science by providing an empirically supported and tested model of implementation to facilitate the identification, adoption, and use of EBPs.
              Cover page: Developing the Autism Model of Implementation for Autism spectrum disorder community providers: study protocol
              • Article
              • Peer Reviewed
              UC Davis Previously Published Works (2019)
                Cover page: How meaningful is more? Considerations regarding intensity in early intensive behavioral intervention
                • Article
                • Peer Reviewed
                UC Davis Previously Published Works (2014)

                Purpose

                Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and behavior analysts are key members of school-based teams that serve children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Behavior analysts approach assessment and intervention through the lens of applied behavior analysis (ABA). ABA-based interventions have been found effective for targeting skills across multiple domains for children with ASD. However, some SLPs may be unfamiliar with the breadth of ABA-based interventions. The intent of this tutorial is to briefly introduce key ABA principles, provide examples of ABA-based interventions used within schools, and identify strategies for successful collaboration between behavior analysts and SLPs.

                Method

                This tutorial draws from empirical studies of ABA-based interventions for children with ASD within school settings, as well as discussions in the extant literature about the use of behavior principles by SLPs and strategies for interdisciplinary collaboration.

                Conclusion

                Given the prevalence of ASD at 1 in 68 children (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014) and the high cost of serving these children within schools (an average cost of 286% over regular education; Chambers, Shkolnik, & Perez, 2003), the need for effective, comprehensive service provision and efficiency within interdisciplinary teams is paramount. Communication, mutual understanding, and recognition of common ground between SLPs and behavior analysts can lead to successful collaboration.
                  Cover page: Team Collaboration: The Use of Behavior Principles for Serving Students With ASD
                  • Article
                  • Peer Reviewed
                  UC Davis Previously Published Works (2021)
                  Lack of access to autism treatment has deepened the disparities for Black children with ASD. Limited resources and lack of advocacy skills in Black families are reasons given for these service gaps but a need to identify mechanisms that support Black families access to treatment for their children have yet to be investigated. This paper explores the forms of cultural capital single Black mothers use to advocate for their children with autism in schools in the US. Using a Thematic Analysis, interviews were coded for several domains of cultural capital found in the literature, including aspirational, familial, social, linguistic, resistant, navigational, motherhood and black cultural capital. Mothers in the study predominately provided examples of resistant and navigational capital. Additionally, mothers were more likely to use their capital to impact services for their child, when schools engaged in family-centered practice.
                    Cover page: Narratives of single, black mothers using cultural capital to access autism interventions in schools
                    • Article
                    • Peer Reviewed
                    UC Davis Previously Published Works (2021)
                    Community-academic partnerships are believed to increase the effectiveness and feasibility of action research. While factors facilitating and hindering community-academic partnerships have been identified, their influence on the collaborative process is unknown, especially during community-academic partnership initiation and development. This explanatory sequential mixed methods study (quantitative→QUALITATIVE) evaluated perspectives of members in an autism community-academic partnership to determine frequently endorsed and influential factors facilitating and hindering the collaborative process during the community-academic partnership's development. Participants (n = 11; community stakeholders, implementation scientist, and researchers) endorsed and ranked the importance of factors present in the formation of the community-academic partnership then completed a semi-structured qualitative interview to elaborate on survey responses. Interviews were coded using a coding, comparison, and consensus method and analyzed using the Rapid Assessment Process for frequency and salience of themes across interviews. Integrating mixed methods yielded ranked factors that were perceived to facilitate and hinder the development of the community-academic partnership, and highlighted the relative influence of interpersonal factors on the facilitation of community-academic partnership processes and organizational factors on the hindrance of community-academic partnership processes during development. Some discrepancies emerged between community and academic partners. Results may assist to improve the development of community-academic partnerships, which is becoming increasingly important in healthcare services research, dissemination, and implementation.
                      Cover page: Choosing strategies that work from the start: A mixed methods study to understand effective development of community–academic partnerships
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