A Randomized Controlled Trial of Functional Communication Training via Telehealth for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The randomized sample was 38 children, which is modest. Parents and behavioral consultants knew group assignment, so they were not blinded. Children in both groups continued varied usual care, including speech or occupational therapy, educational programming, dietary restrictions, social skills training, psychoactive medication, or behavior management, so the contribution of any single ongoing support cannot be separated. Children were included only if functional analysis identified a social function, so the study may not speak to problem behavior without such a function. Severity was not defined by a fixed cut-off score, and each child's behavior targets were individualized, so it is unclear whether the same results would appear with a fixed severity definition or identical targets. Six-month follow-up was available for 24 children, not all families, so durability is less certain. The trial did not compare functional communication training with psychoactive medication.

Authors declared no conflict of interest. Funding came from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration and the National Institute of Mental Health.

Do not read the reduction in problem behavior as proof that functional communication training by itself caused all of the improvement. Children continued varied usual care, including speech or occupational therapy, educational programming, dietary restrictions, social skills training, psychoactive medication, or behavior management strategies and intervention plans, so the contribution of any single ongoing support cannot be separated.