The Effect of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions and Aided AAC on the Language Development of Children on the Autism Spectrum with Minimal Speech: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Lauramarie Pope, Janice Light, Emily Laubscher
PMID 38848009WHAT IT FOUND
Naturalistic interventions help children with autism speak, but adding aided AAC boosts language growth further.
The benefit was small to medium in direct comparisons. Introduce AAC early rather than waiting for speech to emerge, and ensure the device fits the child's specific needs.
Key findings
01Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs) without AAC showed large effects on language in single-case studies (Tau-U = 0.74) and medium effects in group studies once an outlier was removed (Cohen’s d = 0.61).
02NDBIs combined with aided AAC showed very large effects on language in single-case studies (Tau-U = 0.85).
03Three comparative studies found that adding aided AAC to NDBIs produced small to medium additional gains in language growth (Cohen’s d range: 0.29–0.63).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The review excluded caregiver-mediated interventions, so results apply only to professional delivery. Most studies measured expressive language, leaving little evidence for effects on comprehension. AAC systems in the comparative studies were poorly described, making it hard to know which specific features drove the benefits. Variability in participant ages and baseline speech levels between NDBI-Only and NDBI+AAC groups limits direct comparison. Only peer-reviewed English studies were included, which may introduce publication bias.
Declared interests
The provided text does not list specific funding sources or conflicts of interest declarations.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that any AAC system will yield these results. The studies that showed added benefits often lacked detailed descriptions of the devices used. Clinical success depends on selecting an AAC system that fits the child's specific cognitive and motor abilities, not just adding a device to therapy.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →