Enhancing stakeholder roles in autism early interventions in the United States: A stakeholder-driven research agenda.

The stakeholder teams were based in limited US locations, so the agenda may not represent other systems of care. All autistic team members used speech as their primary communication mode, so non-speaking autistic perspectives were not included. The recruitment process may have missed people who do not use the internet or have low literacy. Providers were less racially and ethnically diverse than autistic stakeholders and parents, and many participants were well-educated and middle to upper class. Survey respondents were mostly White and well-educated, so broad US endorsement may not reflect underserved communities. The agenda items are broad topics, not specific studies, so they do not show which intervention works for which patient. This was not a treatment trial, and it did not measure clinical outcomes.

Funding came from a PCORI Engagement Award and NIH support. The first and senior authors are clinical psychologists who received consulting fees for workshops on Reciprocal Imitation Training and Project ImPACT, and the first author oversees Project ImPACT in a clinical setting. The third author previously delivered ABA therapy. The authors also state they approach the work partly from a neurodiversity framework. Stakeholders were paid for meetings.

Do not read this as evidence that any autism early intervention improves outcomes. It reports stakeholder priorities and survey agreement, not tested treatment effects.