Early Identification of Autism: Development and Evaluation of An Online Training Program for Mothers and Child Care Providers

Background:

Although parents of children with autism report having concerns before formal diagnoses, mothers’ utility as informants has been limited by varied levels of knowledge of autism and abilities to recognize subtle qualitative differences in atypical and typical behaviors.  However, mothers typically spend the most time with their infants and see their behavior across multiple contexts.   Likewise, paid providers of child care spend a large amount of time with infants, and are a valuable source of information regarding their behavior in non-maternal care settings.  Therefore, mothers and child care providers are well-positioned to report on early signs of autism, but may need training to recognize subtle signs of autism in infancy to enhance the likelihood of early detection.

Objectives:

The primary objective is to develop and test a multimodal, online training program for parents and child care providers aimed at improving the early detection of autism.  An experimental research design is used to determine if participants’ knowledge of typical infant development and autism, as well as their ability to recognize the early signs of autism and typical abilities, can be improved.

Methods:

Sample.  By the conclusion of data collection, 100 mothers and infants (mean age = 6 months, range = 5-8 months) and 50 child care providers who work with infants younger than 12 months will have participated in the study. Mothers include: 1) high-risk group: mothers with an older child with an ASD and an infant, and 2) low-risk group: mothers and infants with no family history of ASDs.   Participants were recruited from child care facilities, autism fundraising events, and flyers in public locations where mothers tend to frequent.

Measures.  The 45- minute, online training program was developed using information from academic sources, research findings, and assessments, as well as video of infants demonstrating typical and atypical behaviors, or “red flags” for autism.  The program features text, videos, and activities to enhance knowledge of infant development and autism and recognition of typical and atypical behaviors.  Mothers compare the behavior of their own infants to that of infants shown in the videos, and both mothers and child care providers are evaluate the behaviors of infants in the videos and indicate the extent of their concern about these behaviors.

Procedure.  The effectiveness of the training program is tested with an experimental design.  Mothers and child care providers are randomly assigned to A) the training program, or B) a control video about childproofing the home.  Pre- and post-test questionnaires include measures of knowledge and recognition of infant development and autism.

Results:

At this time, data collection is in progress and results will be fully analyzed by the conference date.  Trained parents and experienced child care providers are expected to demonstrate greater knowledge and accuracy regarding infant behaviors than untrained parents and less experienced care providers. 

Conclusions:

This training is expected to be a cost-effective, valuable component in the screening of very early autism. Initiation of early intervention can help these infants with delayed development “catch up,” or prevent children from falling behind.