ERIC Number: EJ1008279
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0885-2006
EISSN: N/A
Effects of Joint Attention Mediated Learning for Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders: An Initial Randomized Controlled Study
Schertz, Hannah H.; Odom, Samuel L.; Baggett, Kathleen M.; Sideris, John H.
Early Childhood Research Quarterly, v28 n2 p249-258 2013
The purpose of this study was to determine effects of the Joint Attention Mediated Learning (JAML) intervention on acquisition of joint attention and other early social communication competencies for toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Twenty-three parents and their toddlers were randomly assigned to JAML or a control condition. Observational assessments were collected at pretest, posttest, and follow-up sessions, while standardized developmental measures were collected at pre- and posttest. Significant intervention-x-time interactions, favoring the intervention group, occurred for the observational measures Focusing on Faces and Responding to Joint Attention, with both having large effect sizes that maintained at follow-up. In addition, significant intervention-x-time effects, also favoring the JAML group were found for receptive language on the Mullen Scales of Early Learning and the Communication sub-domain of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale. The observational measures Turn-Taking and Initiating Joint Attention and the Expressive Communication measure on the Mullen, while not showing significant differences between groups, revealed moderate effect sizes favoring the JAML group, suggesting that a study with more power could well detect significant differences on all of the measures. Findings support a focused, developmentally sequenced, systematic, and family aligned approach that targets preverbal social communication development within parent-child relationships. (Contains 2 figures and 3 tables.)
Descriptors: Adjustment (to Environment), Autism, Receptive Language, Effect Size, Toddlers, Early Intervention
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Assessments and Surveys: Adaptive Behavior Scale; Mullen Scales of Early Learning
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A