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Scholarly Works (2 results)

  • Thesis
  • Peer Reviewed
UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations (2019)

Children’s early language, communication, and social skills are often learned through social interactions with their caregivers. Being jointly engaged with caregivers provides the referential context for children to learn these early skills; however, many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are impaired in their ability to share experiences with others and can thereby miss out on crucial opportunities for language and social development. There are many interventions for young children with ASD that teach children to share attention with others, from those that are more adult-driven and structured (e.g., Discrete Trial Training (DTT)) to child-led and naturalistic (e.g., Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation (JASPER)). Training parents in intervention strategies is effective for improving a wide range of children’s outcomes. This study aimed to: a) examine changes in parents’ use of four ABA-based strategies during parent-child free play interactions over the course of intervention (entry, 2 months into the intervention, 4 months into the intervention, and exit) and b) explore the relationship between parents’ use of strategies and children’s joint engagement and language outcomes over time. The current study was a secondary data analysis of a randomized controlled trial that compared two different interventions for children with ASD. Children (n=156) with limited expressive language ability received either 6 months of DTT or JASPER from an interventionist. In the last 8 weeks of intervention, parents received weekly parent training in whichever intervention their children were randomized to. Parent strategies (responsiveness, pacing, prompting, and environmental arrangement), child joint engagement, and child language were coded from a 10-minute free-play assessment that was collected at each timepoint. Results indicated that parents increased in their appropriate use of parent strategies over time. Parents’ pacing and environmental arrangement were related to children’s joint engagement across time and across treatment groups, while only parents’ pacing was related to children’s language outcomes. Implications for parent-child interactions and for parent trainings within early intervention contexts are discussed.

    Cover page: Parent Strategies for Improving Joint Engagement and Language in a Diverse Sample of Limited Language Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder
    • Article
    • Peer Reviewed
    UCLA Previously Published Works (2024)
    BACKGROUND: Organized physical activity programs have been shown to provide wide benefits to participants, though there are relatively few studies examining the impact of these programs for individuals with developmental disabilities. This pilot study was conducted to determine the feasibility and impact of an undergraduate-led dance intervention program for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities. We evaluated the impact of the dance program on motor ability and social skills. METHODS: The study design was a waitlist control clinical trial in which participants were randomized to active and control groups. Eligible participants included male and female children and adolescents between the ages of 4 and 17 years with neurodevelopmental disabilities. The Motor Assessment Battery for Children Checklist and the Social Responsiveness Scale were used to assess change in motor and social skills, respectively. After gathering baseline data, the active group completed 1 h of online dance classes per week for 10 weeks, while the control group entered a 10-week waiting period. All participants then returned for a follow-up visit. Pre- and post-intervention data were analyzed using linear mixed-effects modeling adjusting for age and class attendance with subject random intercept. RESULTS: We recruited and randomized 43 participants with neurodevelopmental disabilities (mean age = 8.63, SD = 2.98), of which 30 participated in dance classes. The attendance rate was 82.6% for the active group and 61.7% for the control group. The active group demonstrated a significant improvement in motor skills in an unpredictable environment, as indicated on the Motor Assessment Battery for Children Checklist (n = 21, p = 0.05). We also observed positive trends in social skills that did not reach significance. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that it is feasible to develop and implement a fully digital dance intervention program for individuals with developmental disabilities. Further, we find that change in motor skills can be detected after just 10 h of low-intensity participation. However, a lack of significant change in social skills coupled with limitations in study implementation suggests further research is needed to determine the full impact of this dance program. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Protocol Registration System: Protocol ID 20-001680-AM-00005, registered 17/2/2021 - Retrospectively Registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04762290 .
      Cover page: A novel dance intervention program for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities: a pilot randomized control trial.
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