Naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention (NDBI) supports early social communication skills in young autistic children. Given their emphasis on child-led learning opportunities, NDBI is thoug...

This meta-analysis investigates if the amount of intervention provided to young autistic children is associated with improved child development.

PROSPERO

Purpose: Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBIs) are a promising approach for supporting early language and communication dev...

There is an increasing need to measure caregiver implementation of strategies from Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs) as a possible key mediator of outcomes in a child. The...

This pilot study examined a cascading coaching model to train graduate student clinicians and caregivers to use adapted Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) techniques with autistic preschoolers who use echolalia. Adaptations were designed to incorporate children’s echolalic speech within intervention activities and support changes in spoken language. Strategies emphasized responding to, expanding upon, and creating opportunities around children’s verbal productions during play. Two clinician–caregiver–child triads participated. Effects were evaluated using multiple-probe designs across adult participants and intervention contexts. Across four weeks, adults increased their use of targeted NDBI skills, including elicitation techniques (e.g., creating opportunities, wait time, prompting) and response techniques (responsive actions and language models), with moderate to very large effects. Child participants also demonstrated increases in targeted spoken-language communication responses across intervention contexts, with the strongest effects observed during student clinician-led interactions and more variable outcomes during caregiver-led interactions. Visual analysis indicated functional relations for most adult and child outcomes, although individual differences and variability were observed across participants. Findings provide preliminary evidence regarding the feasibility of incorporating echolalia-responsive adaptations within NDBI-based coaching programs for autistic children who use echolalia and their caregivers.

2025年6月22日 日曜日 発売 発達が気になる子どもへの日常生活発達行動支援法（NDBIs） 山本淳一/石塚祐香 学苑社 人文・思想・社会

著者：山本淳一(著), 石塚祐香(著)　出版：学苑社　2026/2/2(月)配信

This study examined child outcomes for five minimally verbal (or non-speaking) autistic preschoolers who participated in cascading coaching programs in which naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention (NDBI) techniques were taught to graduate student clinicians and Hispanic caregivers (three who primarily spoke English, and two who spoke Spanish). While prior studies reported on adult participant outcomes, this study analyzed child multimodal communication outcomes, using multiple baselines/probes single case experimental designs across contexts. Neurodiversity-affirming and culturally responsive principles were embedded within the intervention procedures. Following the introduction of a coached NDBI, all five children (three who received the intervention in English and two who received the intervention in Spanish) demonstrated increased use of (a) the total targeted communicative responses and (b) the targeted unprompted communicative responses, across both student clinician-led and caregiver-led play sessions. The Tau-U effect size measures revealed large-to-very large effects across all of the variables. Overall, higher rates of communication responses were observed during student clinician-led sessions than in caregiver-led sessions. Additionally, behavioral coding of the multimodal response forms (e.g., gestures, aided augmentative and alternative communication, signs, vocal words) using the Communication Matrix revealed that the children used a variety of response topographies during the intervention sessions beyond their preferred communication mode (e.g., signs for three participants). Four of the five children used symbolic communication forms consistently across both caregiver and student clinician-led sessions. Importantly, adults’ reinforcement of pre-symbolic or less advanced communication forms during the intervention did not inhibit the use of more advanced forms.

Despite high rates of emotional dysregulation among autistic children, few studies have explored interventions addressing dysregulation. Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBIs) are a class of interventions focused on supporting social communication. As social communication and emotion regulation skills emerge from similar developmental processes, NDBIs may be one approach for addressing dysregulation among autistic children. The present study sought to characterize change in dysregulation among one-hundred and eleven caregiver–child dyads completing Project ImPACT, a caregiver-mediated NDBI. Caregivers reported on child communication and social engagement using the Social Communication Checklist and emotion regulation using the Emotional Dysregulation Inventory-Young Child at the beginning and end of services. Clinicians reported on caregiver fidelity at each intervention session. Children showed reductions in emotional dysregulation throughout Project ImPACT, though reductions were specific to children who began the program with elevated dysregulation. Child social engagement at baseline and caregivers’ fidelity to specific strategies within Project ImPACT were associated with reductions in emotional dysregulation. Very few studies have tested interventions aimed at supporting emotion regulation among young autistic children. These findings demonstrate that NDBIs may support emotion regulation as well as social communication skills. Further incorporating support for emotion regulation in NDBI may address this critical gap without increasing service coordination for families.

著者：山本淳一/石塚祐香　出版：学苑社　2026/2/2(月)配信

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