Dr. Chengan Yuan, PhD

Sibling-Mediated Intervention

for Autism

Given the increasing prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), estimated to be 1 in 68 in the United States alone, ASD has become one of the fastest-growing pediatric concerns. The deficits of children with ASD range across social communication and academic skills. One of the effective interventions that have been used commonly for ASD is the model-lead-test, which includes modeling, prompting children to practice target skills together, and providing children with affirmative feedback or error correction. Previous research has demonstrated that the model-lead-test is successful in teaching different skills for individuals with ASD, including functional, social, and academic skills. The vast majority of the studies had researchers, therapists, or teachers implement the intervention. However, there is clear empirical support and implications for interventions mediated by more familiar persons, such as parents and siblings, which may lead to better effects, maintenance, and generalization due to more practice opportunities in the natural environments. Research has supported the effectiveness of using parents or peers as agents to deliver interventions for individuals with ASD, whereas fewer studies explored the use of siblings to deliver or mediate intervention. As typically developing siblings are an essential part of the daily life of children with ASD, it makes logical extensions to have siblings as mediators to deliver interventions. In the initial findings, the investigators found the typically developing siblings can accurately implement the model-lead-test procedure that improved various skills of their siblings with ASD. This project will extend these findings by examining the efficacy of the sibling-implemented intervention on early literacy (reading) and social reciprocity (conversation and play) of children with ASD as well as the sibling relationship before, during, and after the intervention.