Most of the treatment literature for young children with autism consists of either full-scale, comprehensive intervention programs evaluated on broad outcomes, or highly specialized interventions evaluated on narrowly focused outcomes. Neither approach has succeeded in describing for whom, and under what conditions, a given intervention should be used. The present project will describe a sequential approach for identifying and testing potential predictors of responsiveness to interventions for specific skill deficits. Motor imitation is the core skill addressed in this project, because it not only plays a pivotal role in the social and cognitive development of children with typical development, but also has been described as a core deficit for young children with autism. Three studies will be conducted with 2- and 3-year-old children with autism. Study 1 will identify which organismic factors (i.e., developmental precursors of the target skill) and environmental factors (e.g., family risks and opportunities) are predictors of motor imitation development, using a longitudinal correlational design. Study 2 will evaluate the effectiveness of a novel imitation intervention that combines both contingent imitation and embedded trials, on children who are high on the predictors identified in Study 1. Study 3 will determine whether the intervention is differentially effective in increasing generalized imitation in children who score high and low on the predictor skills. The results of this research will have implications for the design of interventions for other core deficits of autism.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
5R21HD042437-03
Application #
6614011
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-SSS-C (01))
Program Officer
Kau, Alice S
Project Start
2001-09-30
Project End
2005-08-31
Budget Start
2003-09-01
Budget End
2005-08-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$151,000
Indirect Cost
Name
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Department
Pediatrics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
004413456
City
Nashville
State
TN
Country
United States
Zip Code
37212
McDuffie, Andrea S; Yoder, Paul J; Stone, Wendy L (2006) Labels increase attention to novel objects in children with autism and comprehension-matched children with typical development. Autism 10:288-301
McDuffie, Andrea; Yoder, Paul; Stone, Wendy (2005) Prelinguistic predictors of vocabulary in young children with autism spectrum disorders. J Speech Lang Hear Res 48:1080-97