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A Play-Based, Peer-Mediated Pragmatic Language Intervention for School-Aged Children on the Autism Spectrum: Predicting Who Benefits Most

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Abstract

This study explored characteristics of children with autism with large intervention effects following a peer-mediated pragmatic language intervention, to devise algorithms for predicting children most likely to benefit. Children attended a 10-week intervention with a typically-developing peer. Data from a pilot study and RCT formed the dataset for this study. The POM-2 measured intervention outcomes. Children completed the EVT-2, TACL-4, and Social Emotional Evaluation at baseline, and parents completed the CCC-2 and CCBRS. High CCC-2 Use of Context and CCBRS Separation Anxiety scores and comparatively lower EVT-2, CCC-2 Nonverbal Communication and Cohesion scores predicted children with large intervention effects. Results can be used by clinicians to predict which children within their clinics might benefit most from participating in this intervention.

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Acknowledgments

We are thankful to the families who participated in this study and the organisations who helped with recruitment. We would also like to thank Dr Sarah Wilkes-Gillan and Ms Gabrielle Barnes for their assistance in rating the videos. We also extend our gratitude to Mr John Joosten for his assistance in developing the supplemental application to this paper.

Author Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Lauren Parsons under the supervision of Reinie Cordier, Natalie Munro and Annette Joosten. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Lauren Parsons and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Parsons, L., Cordier, R., Munro, N. et al. A Play-Based, Peer-Mediated Pragmatic Language Intervention for School-Aged Children on the Autism Spectrum: Predicting Who Benefits Most. J Autism Dev Disord 49, 4219–4231 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04137-3

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