Telehealth Coaching for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Overseen By Jessica Simacek, PhD

Age: Any Age

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: University of Minnesota

Disqualifiers: Severe self-injury, Aggression, others

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: Unknown

Duration: 12 weeks

90 Participants Needed

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

The objectives of the current project are to develop and implement training with community providers to evaluate a supplemental parent coaching intervention delivered via telehealth to improve child communication and behavioral outcomes, parental stress outcomes, and to investigate telehealth models to reach children in geographically dispersed or highly mobile locations and/or from military connected families.

Who Is on the Research Team?

Jessica Simacek, PhD

Principal Investigator

University of Minnesota

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

Inclusion Criteria

Providers to participate who are in 'lead' or supervising roles (e.g., clinical supervisors, lead therapists, level II/level I EIDBI providers)

Ability to complete approximately three, 30 min sessions over 12 weeks and to complete pre and post study measures

My child is not currently getting 10+ hours a week of intensive behavioral therapy.

Exclusion Criteria

Children will be assessed through an eligibility screener to determine if they have challenging behavior that may be dangerous. Families will be assessed to determine eligibility through a screener, several of the questions will be aimed to identify challenging behavior severity, behaviors including topographies such as eye gouging and other forms of severe self-injury or aggression that cause significant or dangerous tissue damage (e.g., such as breaking the skin, drawing blood, open wounds that could be infected, or leaves a contusion, visits to an emergency room or hospitalization due to challenging behavior) to a child or others may be considered too severe to participate in the study.

Families will also be asked if a participating caregiver is pregnant, if they indicate yes, they will still be eligible to participate with their child, but certain activities may be skipped if the child engages in challenging behavior, such as aggressive behavior.

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Waitlist

Families randomized to this condition have a 12-week waiting period before starting the NDBI intervention

12 weeks

Treatment

Participants receive the Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) via telehealth to improve child communication and behavioral outcomes

12 weeks

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for changes in autism impact, social communication, repetitive behaviors, family experience, and caregiver strategy implementation

4 weeks

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• NDBI

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

NDBIs are embedded with developmental principles and practices with an emphasis placed on naturalistic intervention elements (e.g., targeting skills within a developmentally appropriate sequence). In addition to adhering to recommended early intervention practices involving naturalized, routines-based, and family-centered interventions, NDBIs may be easier for parents to implement and may promote child skill acquisition in a natural manner and therefore promote generalization and maintenance of skills.

Group II: Waitlist Active Control 1 Intervention

Families randomized to this condition have a 12-week waiting period, after which point they rollover to the NDBI intervention.

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

University of Minnesota

Lead Sponsor

Trials

1,459

Recruited

1,623,000+