Preschool classrooms provide a unique context for supporting the development of children with social-communication challenges. This study is an uncontrolled clinical trial of an adapted professional development intervention for preschool teachers (Social Emotional Engagement-Knowledge & Skills-Early Childhood). Social Emotional…

Most studies of how parents of children with autism view the parent-child relationship used self-report questionnaires and focused on challenges. This study broadened the lens by interviewing parents using open-ended questions that provide an opportunity to raise challenging but also positive experiences. Seventy-five mother-father dyads were…

This study examined the reliability and validity of the 13-item Classroom Observation Scale as used by teachers and non-clinically trained observers to identify children who more likely than their peers to have autism spectrum disorder in less-resourced preschools. A total of 534 children (ages 2;10 to 4;5, Mean = 3;8) from nine Chinese-language…

Early Childhood Special Education teachers select practices to use to promote social communication development for their students with autism spectrum disorder. Understanding what evidence-based practices teachers select and why can inform the development of dissemination and implementation supports at the critical Adoption-Decision stage of…

Schools are the portal through which many children with autism spectrum disorder access early intervention. Collaborating with teachers can be an effective way to implement evidence-based practices. In this study, teachers learned to embed strategies from the Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation intervention into the standard…

Can non-clinicians spot preschoolers likely to have autism spectrum disorder by observing their everyday peer interaction? We set out to develop a screening tool that capitalizes on peer interaction as a naturalistic "stress test" to identify children more likely than their peers to have autism spectrum disorder. A total of 304 3- to…

Peer interaction can be challenging in autism spectrum disorder, but naturalistic peer-observation scales for preschoolers are scarce. This study examined psychometric qualities of the newly developed Autism Peer Interaction Observation Scale. We tested the Autism Peer Interaction Observation Scale to (a) characterize peer interactions of…

For preschool children with autism, individual behavioral interventions are among the best-tested treatments. However, they are rarely implemented in special education preschools. We observed one-to-one behavioral interventions formally and informally delivered by staff (N = 51) in 12 classrooms across three preschools for children with autism,…

Many children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who receive early intervention reap developmental benefits, but little is known about characteristics of early intervention placements in the community that optimize individual growth. The extent to which children hear and use language, in particular, may contribute significantly to…

Gifted children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are often referred to as twice-exceptional, the term that highlights the co-occurrence of exceptional challenges and exceptional giftedness. This study performed secondary data analysis on samples of twice-exceptional children from the Pre-Elementary Education Longitudinal Study and the Special…

This study tested international similarities and differences in scores on a scale comprising 12 items identified by international mental health experts as being very consistent with the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (5th ed.) category of autism spectrum disorder. Participants were 19,850 preschoolers in 24…

Children with autism spectrum disorder experience delays in the development of nonverbal social communication gestures to request and to share (joint attention) as well as play skills such that intervention is required. Although such tools exist in research settings, community stakeholders also require access to brief, simple, and reliable tools…

Identifying effective, community-based specialized interventions for young children with autism spectrum disorder is an international clinical and research priority. We evaluated the effectiveness of the Early Start Denver Model intervention in a group of young children with autism spectrum disorder living in an Italian community compared to a…

Children begin to show preferences for specific playmates as early as the first 2?years of life. Children with autism spectrum disorder have difficulty making friends, even in elementary and middle school. However, very little is known about earlier friendships in children with autism such as preschool friendships. This study examined friendships…

This study investigated questions adults asked to children with autism spectrum disorder in inclusive pre-kindergarten classrooms, and whether child (e.g. autism severity) and setting (i.e. adult-to-child ratio) characteristics were related to questions asked during center-time. Videos of verbal children with autism spectrum disorder (n?=?42) were…