Characteristics of children on the autism spectrum who benefit the most from receiving intervention in inclusive versus specialised early childhood education settings.

The sample size was relatively small (58 children), and the study found no overall difference between settings, meaning the subgroup effects should be interpreted with caution due to broad confidence intervals. The intervention was a highly structured, evidence-based programme (G-ESDM) delivered by trained staff, which is not typical of standard inclusive preschool settings, limiting generalisability to community-based care. The study did not analyse who the children were interacting with (peers vs. adults), so it is unclear if the social gains were driven by peer interaction or staff support. Effects on proximal measures of social communication did not translate to the standardised verbal DQ measure, suggesting the gains may not have generalized to broader language abilities.

Giacomo Vivanti co-developed the G-ESDM and receives royalties from a related book. Several authors are employed by or have received salary from the Victorian Autism Specific Early Learning and Care Centre, the clinical provider of the intervention. The study was funded by the Department of Social Services, Australian Government.

Do not interpret the lack of overall setting difference as evidence that inclusive and specialised settings are interchangeable for all children. The study found that children with low social attention or low nonverbal cognitive ability made fewer gains in inclusive settings, suggesting that placement decisions should be tailored to individual child characteristics rather than applied uniformly.