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Efficacy of the ASAP Intervention for Preschoolers with ASD: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

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Abstract

The advancing social-communication and play (ASAP) intervention was designed as a classroom-based intervention, in which the educational teams serving preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder are trained to implement the intervention in order to improve these children’s social-communication and play skills. In this 4-year, multi-site efficacy trial, classrooms were randomly assigned to ASAP or a business-as-usual control condition. A total of 78 classrooms, including 161 children, enrolled in this study. No significant group differences were found for the primary outcomes of children’s social-communication and play. However, children in the ASAP group showed increased classroom engagement. Additionally, participation in ASAP seemed to have a protective effect for one indicator of teacher burnout. Implications for future research are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), US Department of Education through Grant R324A110256 awarded to UNC-Chapel Hill. The opinions expressed represent those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the US Department of Education. Because this was an IES-funded grant, the ASAP randomized controlled trial was registered with the What Works Clearinghouse’s Registry of Randomized Controlled Trials (Study ID: 342; registered on 10/19/2015 https://www.sree.org/pages/registry.php). In addition, we wish to thank all of the coaches and research staff who assisted with this project as well as the school personnel who participated in this study and the parents who agreed for their children to participate. Drs. Boyd, Watson, Crais and Baranek are developers of the ASAP manuals and accompanying intervention and training materials, but receive no royalties. Dr. Boyd receives royalties for a book published through the Springer International Publishing company.

Funding

The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), US Department of Education through Grant R324A110256 awarded to UNC-Chapel Hill.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Katie Belardi

    Present address: Speech-Language Pathology, Rangos School of Health Sciences, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, USA

  2. Brian A. Boyd

    Present address: Juniper Gardens Children’s Project, University of Kansas, 444 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, KS, 66101-2914, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Allied Health Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7190, USA

    Brian A. Boyd, Stephanie S. Reszka & Grace T. Baranek

  2. Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-7190, USA

    Linda R. Watson, Elizabeth R. Crais & Katie Belardi

  3. USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Therapy, 1540 Alcazar Street, CHP 133, Los Angeles, CA, 90089-9003, USA

    John Sideris & Grace T. Baranek

  4. FPG Child Development Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    John Sideris

  5. Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Miami, P.O. Box 248185, Coral Gables, FL, 33124-0751, USA

    Michael Alessandri & Anibal Gutierrez

  6. Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, Portland State University, 724 SW Harrison, Rm 93, Portland, OR, 97201, USA

    Amy Donaldson

  7. Special Education Programs, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA

    LeAnne Johnson

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Contributions

BAB and LRW conceived of the study, participated in the design, and drafted the manuscript. SSR coordinated the study and drafted the manuscript. JS performed the statistical analysis and drafted the manuscript. GTB and ERC conceived of the study, participated in the design and provided editorial feedback. MA, AD, AG and LJ participated in the design of the study and provided editorial feedback. KB participated in the collection and analysis of data and provided editorial feedback.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Brian A. Boyd.

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Conflict of interest

Drs. Alessandri, Belardi, Donaldson, Gutierrez, Johnson, Reszka and Sideris declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Boyd, B.A., Watson, L.R., Reszka, S.S. et al. Efficacy of the ASAP Intervention for Preschoolers with ASD: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial. J Autism Dev Disord 48, 3144–3162 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-018-3584-z

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