Predictors of Treatment Outcome in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Observational Study in the Greater Geneva Area, Switzerland.
This study aims to identify predictors of treatment outcome in young children with ASD within a European context, where service provision of intervention remains sporadic. We investigated whether a child's age at baseline, intensity of the intervention provided, type of intervention, child's level of social orienting and cognitive skills at baseline predicted changes in autistic symptoms and cognitive development after 1 year of intervention, in a sample of 60 children with ASD. Our results strongly support early and intensive intervention. We also observed that lower cognitive skills at baseline were related to greater cognitive gains. Finally, we show that a child's interest in social stimuli may contribute to intervention outcome.
['Robain|François|F|http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8233-3874', 'Franchini|Martina|M|', 'Kojovic|Nada|N|', 'Wood de Wilde|Hilary|H|', 'Schaer|Marie|M|']
D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder D002675:Child, Preschool D003071:Cognition D061345:Early Medical Intervention D006801:Humans D007223:Infant D008297:Male D011237:Predictive Value of Tests D066107:Social Skills D013557:Switzerland D016896:Treatment Outcome
Predictors Social orienting Community treatment Early Start Denver Model Early intervention Intensity of intervention