Super responders: Predicting language gains from JASPER among limited language children with autism spectrum disorder.
Jonathan Panganiban, Connie Kasari
PMID 35437928WHAT IT FOUND
In 99 limited-language children with autism receiving JASPER, those who used more diverse play actions were significantly more likely to make accelerated language gains.
Children with low play diversity and poor fine motor skills showed slower progress, though most still gained some language.
Key findings
0147% of children were 'super responders', defined as making expressive language gains that exceeded the time between assessments.
02Play diversity was the only significant predictor of responder status, with a cutoff of 23 unique play acts distinguishing higher and lower responders.
03Children with low play diversity and low fine motor skills had lower odds of making expressive language gains in JASPER.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
There was no control group of similar children who did not receive JASPER, so it is unclear if play diversity predicts gains uniquely for this intervention or for any play-based therapy. The study did not use a separate test sample to validate the prediction model, meaning the 70% accuracy might be optimistic. The analysis was retrospective and exploratory, so the findings need replication in prospective studies. The sample was drawn from five different studies with varying intervention lengths and delivery agents, though the authors state these differences did not significantly affect the results.
Declared interests
The paper reports no conflicts of interest. Funding was provided by the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H., Extramural) and Non-U.S. Gov't sources.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that children with low play diversity will not benefit from JASPER. While they were less likely to be 'super responders' with accelerated gains, 85% of the slow responders still made measurable improvements in expressive language.