Al Fahdawi Zehra, Dissanayake Cheryl, Abdullahi Ifrah
Department of Psychology, Counselling and Therapy, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
J Autism Dev Disord. 2025 Jul;55(7):2587-2597. doi: 10.1007/s10803-024-06654-2. Epub 2024 Nov 27.
Children typically learn by attending to other people. Autism traits may impact access to social stimuli fundamental to early learning, increasing children's likelihood of a learning disability. Recent reports have highlighted that Autistic children from minority backgrounds have a higher likelihood of co-occurring intellectual disability. This study aimed to firstly confirm that early autism traits are concurrently and prospectively associated with lower developmental quotients, and secondly to examine the developmental and functional gains in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) and non-CALD Autistic children following one year of Group-based Early Start Denver Model (G-ESDM). Secondary data on 114 non-CALD and 91 CALD Autistic preschoolers receiving the G-ESDM was utilised to address the study aims. Children were administered the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) at entry into the service. The Mullen Scales of Early Learning and the Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scales-II were administered at both entry (Time 1) and 12 months later (Time 2). While no concurrent associations were found between autism traits and Developmental Quotient (DQ), significant associations were found prospectively with ADOS scores at Time 1 and DQ at Time 2, holding for both groups after controlling for DQ at Time 1. Autistic children made significant gains in cognition and functional behaviour following one year of early therapy, with no differences between the two groups. The results indicate that young Autistic children make significant gains in early development and add to the sparse research on the developmental and functional outcomes of Autistic children from CALD communities.
儿童通常通过关注他人来学习。自闭症特征可能会影响获取早期学习所必需的社会刺激，增加儿童出现学习障碍的可能性。最近的报告强调，来自少数族裔背景的自闭症儿童同时患有智力残疾的可能性更高。本研究旨在首先确认早期自闭症特征与较低的发育商同时存在且具有前瞻性关联，其次研究在接受为期一年的基于小组的早期丹佛模式（G - ESDM）后，文化和语言多样化（CALD）及非CALD自闭症儿童在发育和功能方面的进步。利用114名接受G - ESDM的非CALD自闭症学龄前儿童和91名CALD自闭症学龄前儿童的二手数据来实现研究目标。儿童在进入该服务项目时接受自闭症诊断观察量表（ADOS）测试。在进入时（时间1）和12个月后（时间2）均进行了穆伦早期学习量表和文兰适应行为量表第二版测试。虽然未发现自闭症特征与发育商（DQ）之间存在同时关联，但前瞻性研究发现，在控制时间1的DQ后，两组在时间1的ADOS得分与时间2的DQ之间均存在显著关联。经过一年的早期治疗，自闭症儿童在认知和功能行为方面取得了显著进步，两组之间没有差异。结果表明，年幼的自闭症儿童在早期发育方面取得了显著进步，并为关于CALD社区自闭症儿童发育和功能结果的稀少研究增添了内容。
