Autism Mental and Behavioural Disorders Childhood autism
Conditions
Interventions
Blocks of 6-8 parents at each school will be randomised to receive the PECS intervention or Treatment as Usual (TAU). A freely available random number allocation website will be used e.g. Random Alloc
Sponsors
Evelina Children's Hospital, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: Children: 1. Aged 2-10 years 2. Clinical diagnosis of autism, meeting cut-off for autism symptoms i.e =15 on the Social Communication Questionnaire 3. Non/minimally verbal (i.e. fewer than 10 words used on a regular basis) Parents: 4. Willing to consent to participation and able to engage in intervention at home
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: Children who have: 1. More than 10 words used regularly 2. Severe visual or hearing impairment 3. A twin brother or sister who would also be a candidate for the intervention 4. Parents in whom poor use and/or understanding of English would limit participation
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Current primary outcome measure as of 12/03/2021: 1. Successful recruitment of 64 eligible participants, measured using evaluation of participant numbers in each school (anticipated to be 4- 5 schools). 2. Successful data collection on questionnaire and direct assessments at relevant time points e.g. measurement of complete data sets for all recruited participants at each assessment point: baseline, end point (18 weeks) and follow up (22 weeks) and assessment of complete data sets for all recruited participants at the end of data collection for the study. 2.1. Autism symptoms: The Social Communication Questionnaire - Lifetime version 2.2. Communication: Communication Development Inventory (CDI) Words and Gestures 2.3. Adaptive Behaviour: The Adaptive Behaviour Assessment System (ABAS) 2.4. Developmental level: Researcher administered Mullen Scales of Development 2.5. Qualitative data e.g. A therapist rating (5 point scale), A parent-completed Social Validity Questionnaire 2.6. Local service use data: from parent completed Child and Adolescent Service Use Schedule (CA-SUS) 3. Acceptability of App and body-worn cameras and quality of data obtained from this equipment, measured using verbal feedback from parents at each assessment i.e. baseline, end point(18 weeks) and follow up (22 weeks). 4. Number of families retained in both groups, measured using assessment of the number of participating/engaged families at end point (18 weeks) and follow up assessments (22 weeks) 5. Number of home-based sessions delivered by the therapist, measured using therapist diary records at end of each family’s treatment (17-18 weeks) 6. Data (from the research therapist) on parent/child progression of PECS stages (i.e. 1-6) for treatment families (parent treatment fidelity) at end of treatment period (17-18 weeks) 7. Feedback on feasibility and acceptability of the intervention at treatment end point (18 weeks) from Parents assessed by Social Validity Questionnaire (for treatment gro | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. At baseline, endpoint (18 weeks) and follow up (22 weeks) PECS usage (count of requesting behaviours rated by parents via telephone App and by researcher from video), according to 2 codes: 1) use of PECS, 2) other forms of request. Other behaviours (anticipated to be non-communicative behaviour) will be noted. 2. Children’s communication assessed by parent-rated Communication Development Inventory (CDI) at baseline and endpoint (18 weeks) | — |
Countries
England, United Kingdom
Outcome results
None listed