Predicting Responsiveness to Imitation Intervention

描述(由申请人提供)：大多数治疗文献都是针对年轻人的 自闭症儿童由全面、全面的干预措施组成 根据广泛的结果或高度专业化的干预措施评估的方案 根据狭隘的结果进行评估。这两种方法都没有成功地 描述针对谁以及在什么条件下应采取的干预措施 使用。本项目将描述一种顺序办法，以确定 以及测试对干预措施反应的潜在预测因素 特定技能缺陷。运动模仿是本书讨论的核心技能。 项目，因为它不仅在社会和认知方面发挥着举足轻重的作用 儿童的发育具有典型的发育，也有过描述 作为自闭症儿童的核心缺陷。三项研究将是 对2岁和3岁的自闭症儿童进行了调查。研究1将确定 哪些组织因素(即目标技能的发展前驱) 环境因素(例如，家庭风险和机会)是预测因素 对电机的模拟开发，采用纵向相关设计。 研究2将评估一种新的模仿干预的有效性 结合了或有模仿和嵌入试验，针对的是 在研究1中确定的预测因素很高。研究3将确定 干预在增加泛化程度方面有不同的效果 模仿者在儿童的预测技能上得分高低。这个 这项研究的结果将对干预措施的设计产生影响 自闭症的其他核心缺陷。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): 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.