Feasibility of an app-based parent-mediated speech production intervention for minimally verbal autistic children: devel
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(2020) 6:185
RESEARCH
Open Access
Feasibility of an app-based parentmediated speech production intervention for minimally verbal autistic children: development and pilot testing of a new intervention Jo Saul1*
and Courtenay Norbury1,2
Abstract Background: Training speech production skills may be a valid intervention target for minimally verbal autistic children. Intervention studies have explored various approaches albeit on a small scale and with limited experimental control or power. We therefore designed a novel app-based parent-mediated intervention based on insights from the video modelling and cued articulation literature and tested its acceptability and usage. Methods: Consultation with the autism community refined the initial design and culminated in a pilot trial (n = 19) lasting 16 weeks. Participants were randomly allocated an intervention duration in an AB phase design and undertook weekly probes during baseline and intervention via the app. We evaluated the acceptability of the intervention via feedback questionnaires and examined the usability variables such as adherence to the testing and intervention schedule, time spent on the app and trials completed during the intervention phase. Results: High acceptability scores indicated that families liked the overall goals and features of the app. Ten participants engaged meaningfully with the app, completing 82% of the test trials and uploading data in 61% of intervention weeks; however, of these, only three met the targeted 12.5 min of intervention per week. Conclusion: We discuss the possible reasons for variability in usage data and how barriers to participation could be surmounted in the future development of this intervention.
Background Multiple risk factors interact and combine to impact language acquisition in autism, and expressive language trajectories and outcomes are highly variable for autistic individuals. Approximately 25% of autistic individuals remain minimally verbal [1, 2], which means they have very limited ‘useful’ speech (i.e. speech used in frequent, communicative, non-imitative and referential ways [3]). * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 University College London Faculty of Brain Sciences, London, UK Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Development of functional speech by age 5 is one of the strongest predictors of positive adaptive outcome in adulthood [4], which has important implications for access to opportunities in the community, quality of life and independence. Identifying barriers to spoken language development and tailoring interventions accordingly are thus an important clinical and research aim. Longitudinal studies have shown a host of variables to predict expressive language in young preverbal autistic cohorts (e.g. parent responsiveness, child joint attention skills and communicative intent), and these findings
© The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation,
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