About
This multi-site study will recruit 120 autistic children, ages 3 to 6, from preschools and elementary schools in the Kansas City metro area and North Carolina Triangle. Each child will be paired with two peer partners. A member of the child's school team will be trained as lead interventionist to implement Stay-Play-Talk, an evidenced-based, peer-mediated intervention.
PIPA is formally titled, Examining Adaptive Peer-Mediated Interventions for Preschoolers with ASD and Limited or No Spoken Language: A Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial
Goals
1) Evaluate Stay-Play-Talk, an evidenced-based peer intervention aimed at improving social communication in school-age children with autism and limited or no spoken language.
2) Explore the effectiveness of adapting peer interventions to meet the individual communication needs of children with autism who may respond at a different pace.
Project Accomplishments
Years 1-3:
- Provided 33 autistic children with an iPad with voice output app (e.g., TouchChat) programmed with a functional communication vocabulary to use as a speech-generating device.
- Trained and coached 25 early service providers to deliver Stay-Play-Talk intervention.
- Taught 64 peers to Stay-Play-Talk and be responsive social partners.
- Observed marked communication improvements for autistic children and peer buddies in how often they talked to each other and in reciprocal, back-and-forth interactions during play.
- Collected implementer interviews that highlighted positive perceptions of the improvements in the quality of social interaction.
- Shared written outcomes and reports with families and school staff during end-of-year meetings.
