WWC review of this study

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

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
     examining 
    17
     Students
    , grades
    1-2

Reviewed: April 2022

No statistically significant positive
findings
Meets WWC standards without reservations
Student social interaction outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
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;
17 students

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;
17 students

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;
17 students

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;
17 students

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.

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.


  • Female: 24%
    Male: 77%

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    North Carolina
  • Race
    Asian
    12%
    Black
    6%
    Other or unknown
    6%
    White
    77%
  • Ethnicity
    Hispanic    
    12%
    Not Hispanic or Latino    
    88%

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.

 

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