Efficacy Study of a Social Communication and Self-Regulation Intervention for School-Age Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Nowell, Sallie W.; Watson, Linda R.; Boyd, Brian; Klinger, Laura G. (2019). Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED607066
-
examining17Students, grades1-2
Department-funded evaluation
Review Details
Reviewed: April 2022
- Department-funded evaluation (findings for Growing, Learning, and Living With Autism (GoriLLA) Group)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
3-Box Task - Child Negativity |
Growing, Learning, and Living With Autism (GoriLLA) Group vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
1.97 |
1.82 |
No |
-- | |
|
3-Box Task - Child Attention to Objects |
Growing, Learning, and Living With Autism (GoriLLA) Group vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
6.21 |
6.18 |
No |
-- | |
|
3-Box Task - Mutuality/Connectedness |
Growing, Learning, and Living With Autism (GoriLLA) Group vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
5.48 |
5.45 |
No |
-- | |
|
3-Box Task: Child Engagement |
Growing, Learning, and Living With Autism (GoriLLA) Group vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
5.21 |
5.36 |
No |
-- |
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
-
Female: 24%
Male: 77% -
Urban
-
- B
- A
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- I
- H
- J
- K
- L
- P
- M
- N
- O
- Q
- R
- S
- V
- U
- T
- W
- X
- Z
- Y
- a
- h
- i
- b
- d
- e
- f
- c
- g
- j
- k
- l
- m
- n
- o
- p
- q
- r
- s
- t
- u
- v
- x
- w
- y
North Carolina
-
Race Asian 12% Black 6% Other or unknown 6% White 77% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 12% Not Hispanic or Latino 88%
Study Details
Setting
The study took place with families at The Chapel Hill TEACCH Center, a community practice setting in North Carolina.
Study sample
Participants in this study were in first or second grade and were 7 years old on average. All participants had a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. About 25% were female, with 77% White, 12% Asian, and 6% African American.
Intervention Group
The Growing, Learning, and Living with Autism (GoriLLA) intervention at the Chapel Hill TEACCH Autism Center is a parent-assisted program designed to equip children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and their parents with self-regulation and social communication concept knowledge that can be applied throughout their daily routines. GoriLLA combines Structured TEACCHing and components from the Social Thinking methodology. Intervention sessions meet for 90 minutes weekly, and consist of parent-child large- and small-group activities targeting social communication and self-regulation. There are also weekly 20-30-minute parent break out sessions to review different concepts of the program and homework.
Comparison Group
Children and parents in the delayed treatment comparison condition continued receiving services as u sual in the community while waiting to participate in the GoriLLA intervention at the end of the study.
Support for implementation
No support for implementation was provided.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of the findings within a domain, the WWC characterizes the findings from a study as one of the following: statistically significant positive effects, substantively important positive effects, indeterminate effects, substantively important negative effects, and statistically significant negative effects. For more, please see the WWC Handbook.
The WWC may review studies for multiple purposes, including different reports and re-reviews using updated standards. Each WWC review of this study is listed in the dropdown. Details on any review may be accessed by making a selection from the drop down list.
Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).