The Relationship Between Effective Engagement and Developmental Age in Children with Autism

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The Relationship Between Effective Engagement and
Developmental Age in Children with Autism

• Abby Ramser
• Lisa Ruble, PhD

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Introduction

• PDD-NOS Aspergers Autism

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• Autism is BEHAVIORALLY rather than MEDICALLY
  diagnosed

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DSM IV (2000) defines autism as

• Qualitative impairment in social interaction and
  communication
• Restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of
  behavior, interest, and activities.
• Abnormal functioning in social interaction,
  language used in social interaction, or symbolic
  or imaginative play beginning before age three.

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Engagement Research

• National Research Council (2001) Educating
  Children with Autism recommends 25 hours per week
  of active engagement
• McWilliams (1995) A positive relationship
  between developmental age and engagement
• Mahoney (1999) Studies support the idea that
  responsiveness as opposed to directiveness is the
  beneficial characteristic of parents.

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Active Engagement

• E-QUAL III Childrens Engagement Codes
  McWilliams and de Kruif (1998)
• Actively engaged time Time children spend
  interacting with the environment in a
  developmentally and contextually appropriate
  manner. McWilliams and Bailey(1995)

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Intervention

• About half of children with autism improve in
  developmental skills when they receive intensive
  early intervention.
• Components of an effective program involve
  meaningful interactions
• Reciprocal play, imitation, and communication

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Purpose of Study

• (a) to develop the Parent Engagement Scale (PES)
  which is based on the Child Engagement Scale.
• (b) to examine the relationship between the PES
  and child characteristics.

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Method

• Participants
• 10 children and their parents
• Assessed at STARs Early Childhood Evaluation
• Materials
• Parent Engagement Scale
• Test Scores
• Videos of parent-child free play

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Materials

• Parent Engagement Scale
• Directiveness
• Responsiveness
• Affectiveness
• Movement

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Materials

• Test Scores
• ADOS
• CARS
• DAS
• Vineland
• Social Skills Survey (Parents and Teacher)
• Communicative Functions
• PLS-4 or Rosetti
• Peabody

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Procedure

• Gather participants test scores
• Code videos of parent-child free play

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Results

• Interrater Reliability
• rgt.80
• Negative correlation between parent active
  engagement (responsive) and child developmental
  age
• (r-0.71, p lt0.05)

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Discussion

• The PES was found to be reliable
• Parents of children with more severe autism
  appear to demonstrate more active engagement with
  their child according to the PES
• Further comparative study needed that looks at
  engagement after intervention

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Future Implications

• Parent-child interaction training
• Global PES Consistency
• Child engagement improving as a result of
  productive parent engagement