Abstract
This study aims to identify predictors of treatment outcome in young children with ASD within a European context, where service provision of intervention remains sporadic. We investigated whether a child’s age at baseline, intensity of the intervention provided, type of intervention, child’s level of social orienting and cognitive skills at baseline predicted changes in autistic symptoms and cognitive development after 1 year of intervention, in a sample of 60 children with ASD. Our results strongly support early and intensive intervention. We also observed that lower cognitive skills at baseline were related to greater cognitive gains. Finally, we show that a child’s interest in social stimuli may contribute to intervention outcome.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank: all the families who kindly participated in the study; Alexandra Bastos, Stéphanie Baudoux, Lylia Ben Hadid, Aurélie Bochet, Léa Chambaz, Flore Couty, Sophie Diakonoff, Marie-Agnès Graf, Sara Maglio, Matthieu Mansion, Irène Pittet, Sonia Richetin and Myriam Speller for their help with data collection as well as Hugo Maure for his proofreading.
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This study was supported by the National Center of Competence in Research “Synapsy,” financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF, Grant Number: 51AU40_125759), by a SNF Grant to MS (#163859), and by the “Fondation Pôle Autisme” (https://www.pole-autisme.ch). Martina Franchini was also supported by an individual fellowship from the SNF (#P2GEP1_171686).
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Robain, F., Franchini, M., Kojovic, N. et al. Predictors of Treatment Outcome in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Observational Study in the Greater Geneva Area, Switzerland. J Autism Dev Disord 50, 3815–3830 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04430-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04430-6