An initial trial of OPT-In-Early: An online training program for caregivers of autistic children.
Yael G Dai, Rebecca P Thomas, Lynn Brennan and 13 others
PMID 36519775WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers using the OPT-In-Early online program learned more intervention strategies and used them more effectively in brief interactions than those receiving usual care.
However, no changes in children's observed social communication were found, and self-efficacy gains did not differ between groups.
Key findings
01Parents in the intervention group showed significantly greater gains in knowledge of evidence-based strategies compared to the treatment-as-usual group.
02Direct observation showed intervention group parents used intervention strategies more effectively post-treatment than at baseline, while the usual care group used them less effectively.
03There was no significant difference between groups in children's observed social communication skills or in the change in parent self-efficacy.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
High attrition rate: 27% of the sample did not complete the post-treatment visit. The trial was short (four to six months), which may not have allowed enough time for parent skill changes to translate into child outcome improvements. Parent strategy use was measured only during four brief two-minute interactions, which may not reflect everyday use. The intervention group had optional support calls, which may have influenced engagement or understanding compared to a purely self-directed model. The control group received no active control activity, so effects may be partly due to attention or expectation rather than the specific content of the training.
Declared interests
One of the program creators is a parent of an autistic child who collaborated in designing the study and writing the manuscript. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and non-U.S. government sources.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that this online training improves children's social communication skills. While parents learned strategies and used them better in brief observations, the study found no significant difference in children's observed social communication between the training and usual care groups.