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Generalisation of Social Communication Skills by Autistic Children During Play-Based Assessments Across Home, School and an Unfamiliar Research Setting

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Heather MooreORCiD, Dr Victoria Grahame, Emerita Professor Helen McConachie, Professor Jeremy Parr, Professor Ann Le Couteur

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

© The Author(s) 2024.We investigated autistic children’s generalisation of social communication over time across three settings during a play-based assessment with different adults and explore the potential moderating effects on generalisation of age, nonverbal IQ and level of restricted and repetitive behaviours. The social communication abilities of 248 autistic children (2–11 years, 21% female, 22% single parent, 60% white) from three UK sites were assessed from 1984 video interactions in three contexts with three different interaction partners (parent/home, teaching assistant/school, researcher/clinic) at baseline, midpoint (+ 7m) and endpoint (+ 12m) within the Paediatric Autism Communication Trial-Generalised (PACT-G), a parent-mediated social communication intervention. Children’s midpoint social communication at home generalised to school at midpoint and to clinic at endpoint. Generalisation was stronger from home to school and clinic than school to home and clinic. Generalisation was not moderated by age, nonverbal IQ or restricted and repetitive behaviour. Broader child development did not explain the pattern of results. The current study is the largest study to date to explore generalisation with autistic children and provides novel insight into their generalisation of social communication skills. Further research is needed to gain a more comprehensive understanding of facilitators of generalisation across settings and interaction partners in order to develop targeted strategies for interventions to enhance outcomes for young autistic children.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Carruthers S, Charman T, Leadbitter K, Ellis C, Taylor L, Moore H, Taylor C, James K, Balabanovska M, Langhorne S, Aldred C, Slonims V, Grahame V, Howlin P, McConachie H, Parr J, Emsley R, Le Couteur A, Green J, Pickles A, PACT-G Trial Group

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Year: 2024

Pages: epub ahead of print

Online publication date: 14/05/2024

Acceptance date: 19/04/2024

Date deposited: 29/05/2024

ISSN (print): 0162-3257

ISSN (electronic): 1573-3432

Publisher: Springer

URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06370-x

DOI: 10.1007/s10803-024-06370-x

Data Access Statement: The analyses presented were preregistered (https://aspredicted.org/blind.php?x=dw43ak) with departures noted in the Supplement Materials. The analytic code necessary to reproduce the principal analyses presented are also available from https://osf.io/nxvum/. Data are available from the study PI (JG) upon reasonable request.


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Funding

Funder referenceFunder name
13/119/18
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)

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