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Delay to Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention and Educational Outcomes for a Medicaid-Enrolled Cohort of Children with Autism

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Abstract

Increased prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has underscored the need for early intervention services. Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI) is among the most common evidence-based approaches, however, stakeholders report significant waitlists. The effects of these delays to intervention are unknown. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of delay to EIBI for preschool aged children with ASD on later educational outcomes. Medicaid records from Minnesota (2008–2010) were used to evaluate a cohort diagnosed with ASD and their later educational outcomes from 2010 to 2014 (n = 667) using generalized estimating equations. Approximately 70% of children experienced a delay to EIBI and children that experienced less delay and started EIBI at a younger age had better educational outcomes.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under grant No. SMA1338489. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute On Community Integration, University of Minnesota, 150 Pillsbury Dr. SE., Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Adele F. Dimian

  2. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Frank J. Symons & Jason J. Wolff

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  1. Adele F. Dimian
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  2. Frank J. Symons
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AFD drafted the manuscript and was responsible for the study conception, data analysis and interpretation; FJS and JW participated in manuscript preparation, interpretation, and revised the manuscript critically for intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Adele F. Dimian.

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This study complied with all ethical standards and approval was given by the institutional review board to complete this secondary data analysis study.

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Dimian, A.F., Symons, F.J. & Wolff, J.J. Delay to Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention and Educational Outcomes for a Medicaid-Enrolled Cohort of Children with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 51, 1054–1066 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04586-1

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