Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evidence-Based/Evidence-Informed Good Practice for Supports Provided to Preschool Children, Their Families and Carers
Roberts, J. M. A., Williams, K., et al. (2016).
Australia: National Disability Insurance Agency, 1-89.
This guideline developed for the National Disability Insurance Agency of Australia provides recommendations for making decisions about the delivery of services to preschool-aged children on the autism spectrum and to their families and other caregivers.
National Disability Insurance Agency (Australia)
"We ... recommend that children who have received a diagnosis of autism receive 20 hours per week of early intervention that involves interaction with them (focus on social communication), with review of this level of support after the first 12 months, or sooner if they fail to progress or make rapid progress" (p. 35)
It is recommended that "an assessment of adaptive behaviours and also an assessment of social communication be completed at least every year — as indicators of progress in key areas addressed by early intervention" (p. 14)
Neither neurofeedback nor auditory integration training should be used as an intervention to address speech and language skills in preschoolers on the autism spectrum.
Early support or intervention should start as soon as a diagnosis is made and the family is ready.
"There are now established recommendations for diagnosis and assessment of children [on the autism spectrum] ... from Australia ... and internationally.... All diagnosis and assessment guidelines require children to be assessed by a paediatrician or a child and adolescent psychiatrist, a psychologist and a speech pathologist and for a consensus diagnosis to have been reached in accordance with existing classification systems" (p. 18).
"The parents/carers of children [on the autism spectrum] ... should be supported during the early intervention years. Supports for children ... should be evidence‐based and delivered using a family‐centered approach that incorporates individual planning" (p. 22).
"Intervention programs need to be evaluated regularly to ensure that they continue to meet the needs of the child. This process involves a review of the individual plan goals and review of the child’s skills and needs to ensure that the program is addressing both of these" (p. 12).
"Having well‐trained professionals working as teams to support children [on the autism spectrum] ... and their families is needed. Parent or peer training is promoted, as long as it is incorporated to take into account a family‐centered approach" (p. 10).
"Aims of support for the child [on the autism spectrum] ... are to improve social communication, enhance learning and participation and minimise behaviours that challenge. Approaches recommended are teaching specific skills, environmental modification, building on opportunities and supporting transitions. A large number of evidence‐based strategies can be used to achieve these aims and are aligned with overarching approaches" (p. 22). "Evidence-based strategies that are relevant include imitation, modelling and video modelling/feedback, and also verbal, visual, or physical prompting (also known as scaffolding or cueing) to support behaviour not yet established and provide opportunities for reinforcement and learning" (p. 25)
"Intervention programs for children [on the autism spectrum] ... should be comprehensive, that is, across all domains of learning, with clearly stated, replicable process and content. This type of program can be one that has been developed and given a name ... or one that is developed for an individual child through an individual planning process designed to identify and achieve agreed aims, using good‐practice principles and evidence‐based strategies" (p. 10).
