Saul Jo, Norbury Courtenay
University College London Faculty of Brain Sciences, London, UK.
Department of Special Needs Education, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Pilot Feasibility Stud. 2020 Nov 25;6(1):185. doi: 10.1186/s40814-020-00726-7.
Training speech production skills may be a valid intervention target for minimally verbal autistic children. Intervention studies have explored various approaches albeit on a small scale and with limited experimental control or power. We therefore designed a novel app-based parent-mediated intervention based on insights from the video modelling and cued articulation literature and tested its acceptability and usage.
Consultation with the autism community refined the initial design and culminated in a pilot trial (n = 19) lasting 16 weeks. Participants were randomly allocated an intervention duration in an AB phase design and undertook weekly probes during baseline and intervention via the app. We evaluated the acceptability of the intervention via feedback questionnaires and examined the usability variables such as adherence to the testing and intervention schedule, time spent on the app and trials completed during the intervention phase.
High acceptability scores indicated that families liked the overall goals and features of the app. Ten participants engaged meaningfully with the app, completing 82% of the test trials and uploading data in 61% of intervention weeks; however, of these, only three met the targeted 12.5 min of intervention per week.
We discuss the possible reasons for variability in usage data and how barriers to participation could be surmounted in the future development of this intervention.
对于极少言语的自闭症儿童，训练言语产生技能可能是一个有效的干预目标。干预研究已经探索了各种方法，尽管规模较小且实验控制或效能有限。因此，我们基于视频示范和提示发音文献中的见解，设计了一种新型的基于应用程序的家长介导干预，并测试了其可接受性和使用情况。
与自闭症群体进行协商完善了初始设计，并最终进行了一项为期16周的试点试验（n = 19）。参与者在AB阶段设计中被随机分配干预时长，并在基线期和干预期通过应用程序每周进行一次测试。我们通过反馈问卷评估干预的可接受性，并检查可用性变量，如是否遵守测试和干预时间表、在应用程序上花费的时间以及在干预阶段完成的试验次数。
高可接受性分数表明家庭喜欢该应用程序的总体目标和功能。10名参与者积极使用该应用程序，完成了82%的测试试验，并在61%的干预周上传了数据；然而，其中只有3人达到了每周12.5分钟的目标干预时长。
我们讨论了使用数据变异性的可能原因，以及在该干预措施的未来发展中如何克服参与障碍。
