Feasibility and acceptability of a low-resource-intensive, transdiagnostic intervention for children with social-communication challenges in early childhood education settings.

LAY ABSTRACT Preschool classrooms provide a unique context for supporting the development of children with social-communication challenges. This study evaluates the feasibility and acceptability of an adapted professional development intervention for preschool teachers (Social Emotional Engagement-Knowledge & Skills-Early Childhood). Social Emotional Engagement-Knowledge & Skills-Early Childhood is a low-resource-intensive, transdiagnostic intervention to address the learning needs of children with a broad range of social-communication challenges in authentic preschool classrooms. The intervention consists of four asynchronous online modules and three synchronous coaching sessions. Participants included one teacher and one target child with social-communication challenges from 25 preschool classrooms from private childcare, Head Start, and public Pre-K programs. Results reveal high levels of Social Emotional Engagement-Knowledge & Skills-Early Childhood feasibility, with 9 out of 10 feasibility benchmarks met: (a) procedures for participant recruitment reliably identified a neurodiverse sample of children with teacher-reported social-communication challenges; (b) teachers showed high levels of program engagement and Social Emotional Engagement-Knowledge & Skills-Early Childhood completion (76%); and (c) results revealed a robust pattern of gains in Social Emotional Engagement-Knowledge & Skills-Early Childhood classrooms and associations among key outcome measures (including active engagement, student-teacher relationship, social-communication competencies). This research prepares a subsequent, larger effectiveness-implementation hybrid trial (Type 1) that investigates the effectiveness of Social Emotional Engagement-Knowledge & Skills-Early Childhood for improving child outcomes and explores facilitators and barriers of program implementation and sustainability.

[1]  Aubyn C. Stahmer,et al.  A Waitlist Randomized Implementation Trial of Classroom Pivotal Response Teaching for Students With Autism , 2022, Focus on autism and other developmental disabilities.

[2]  M. Siller,et al.  Teacher-Implemented Parent Coaching in Inclusive Preschool Settings for Children With Autism , 2022, Journal of Early Intervention.

[3]  M. Siller,et al.  Teachers’ experiences: social emotional engagement – knowledge and skills , 2021, Educational Research.

[4]  M. Siller,et al.  Inclusive Early Childhood Education for Children With and Without Autism: Progress, Barriers, and Future Directions , 2021, Frontiers in Psychiatry.

[5]  L. H. Hampton,et al.  Preemptive interventions for infants and toddlers with a high likelihood for autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis , 2021, Autism : the international journal of research and practice.

[6]  T. Spencer,et al.  Multi-tiered system of supports in early childhood: identifying gaps, considerations for application, and solutions , 2021 .

[7]  G. Aarons,et al.  Implementation of school-based services for students with autism: Barriers and facilitators across urban and rural districts and phases of implementation , 2021, Autism : the international journal of research and practice.

[8]  Tricia A. Zucker,et al.  “Doing What I can, but I got no Magic Wand:” A Snapshot of Early Childhood Educator Experiences and Efforts to Ensure Quality During the COVID-19 Pandemic , 2021, Early Childhood Education Journal.

[9]  C. Kasari,et al.  Joint engagement is a potential mechanism leading to increased initiations of joint attention and downstream effects on language: JASPER early intervention for children with ASD. , 2021, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[10]  Nirit Bauminger-Zviely,et al.  Naturalistic evaluation of preschoolers’ spontaneous interactions: The Autism Peer Interaction Observation Scale , 2021, Autism : the international journal of research and practice.

[11]  Meghan Miller,et al.  Future Directions for Infant Identification and Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder from a Transdiagnostic Perspective , 2020, Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53.

[12]  G. Williams,et al.  Does Language Matter? Identity-First Versus Person-First Language Use in Autism Research: A Response to Vivanti , 2020, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

[13]  Z. Warren,et al.  Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children Aged 8 Years — Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 11 Sites, United States, 2016 , 2020, Morbidity and mortality weekly report. Surveillance summaries.

[14]  G. Vivanti.  Ask the Editor: What is the Most Appropriate Way to Talk About Individuals with a Diagnosis of Autism? , 2019, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

[15]  Kayne D. Mettert,et al.  Measuring implementation outcomes: An updated systematic review of measures’ psychometric properties , 2020, Implementation research and practice.

[16]  Jonathan Green,et al.  Editorial Perspective: Delivering autism intervention through development. , 2019, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[17]  Sara J. Landes,et al.  An introduction to effectiveness-implementation hybrid designs , 2019, Psychiatry Research.

[18]  C. Dissanayake,et al.  Delivery of Group-Early Start Denver Model in an Australian early childhood setting , 2019, Pediatric Medicine.

[19]  Jennifer Grisham-Brown,et al.  Multi-tiered systems of support for preschool-aged children: A review and meta-analysis , 2019, Early Childhood Research Quarterly.

[20]  Amanda P. Williford,et al.  Observed quality of classroom peer engagement in a sample of preschoolers displaying disruptive behaviors , 2019, Early Childhood Research Quarterly.

[21]  Kelsey S. Dickson,et al.  Characterizing Shared and Unique Implementation Influences in Two Community Services Systems for Autism: Applying the EPIS Framework to Two Large-Scale Autism Intervention Community Effectiveness Trials , 2019, Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research.

[22]  Laudan B. Jahromi,et al.  Delay of gratification in preschoolers with and without autism spectrum disorder: Individual differences and links to executive function, emotion regulation, and joint attention , 2019, Autism : the international journal of research and practice.

[23]  Amy L. Donaldson,et al.  Efficacy of the ASAP Intervention for Preschoolers with ASD: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial , 2018, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

[24]  C. Schatschneider,et al.  Cluster Randomized Trial of the Classroom SCERTS Intervention for Elementary Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder , 2018, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[25]  Aubyn C. Stahmer,et al.  Effectiveness of a multi-level implementation strategy for ASD interventions: study protocol for two linked cluster randomized trials , 2018, Implementation Science.

[26]  C. Hernández-Martínez,et al.  EDUTEA: A DSM-5 teacher screening questionnaire for autism spectrum disorder and social pragmatic communication disorder , 2017, International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHP.

[27]  Amanda P. Williford,et al.  Relations between social skills and language and literacy outcomes among disruptive preschoolers: Task engagement as a mediator , 2016 .

[28]  C. Schatschneider,et al.  Evaluation of Classroom Active Engagement in Elementary Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder , 2016, Journal of autism and developmental disorders.

[29]  Aubyn C. Stahmer,et al.  Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions: Empirically Validated Treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder , 2015, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

[30]  Evren Tufan.  The relationship between social communication disorder (SCD) and broad autism phenotype (BAP). , 2014, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[31]  Amelia K. Searle,et al.  Prospective Associations between Children’s Preschool Emotional and Behavioral Problems and Kindergarten Classroom Engagement, and the Role of Gender , 2014, The Elementary School Journal.

[32]  C. Fitzpatrick.  What if we considered a novel dimension of school readiness? The importance of classroom engagement for early child adjustment to school , 2012 .

[33]  H. Kraemer,et al.  The role and interpretation of pilot studies in clinical research. , 2011, Journal of psychiatric research.

[34]  Aubyn C. Stahmer,et al.  Inclusion for toddlers with autism spectrum disorders , 2011, Autism : the international journal of research and practice.

[35]  G. Aarons,et al.  Advancing a Conceptual Model of Evidence-Based Practice Implementation in Public Service Sectors , 2010, Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research.

[36]  Alicia C. Bunger,et al.  Outcomes for Implementation Research: Conceptual Distinctions, Measurement Challenges, and Research Agenda , 2010, Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research.

[37]  Maria E Fernandez,et al.  How we design feasibility studies. , 2009, American journal of preventive medicine.

[38]  I. Schwartz,et al.  Project DATA for Toddlers , 2006 .

[39]  M. Wolery,et al.  Using Point-of-View Video Modeling to Teach Play to Preschoolers With Autism , 2006 .

[40]  Nirit Bauminger,et al.  Social Information Processing and Emotional Understanding in Children with LD , 2005, Journal of learning disabilities.

[41]  D. Skuse,et al.  Social communication deficits in conduct disorder: a clinical and community survey. , 2004, Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines.

[42]  Aubyn C. Stahmer,et al.  Inclusive Programming for Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorders , 2004 .

[43]  M. J. Morrier,et al.  An Incidental Teaching Approach to Early Intervention for Toddlers with Autism , 1999 .

[44]  Robert C. Pianta,et al.  Teacher-child relationships and the process of adjusting to school , 1992 .

[45]  C. Moore,et al.  Empathy and Social Perspective Taking in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder , 2009, Journal of abnormal child psychology.