Despite the recognized effectiveness of naturalistic intervention practices, including activity-based intervention (ABI), challenges remain regarding their implementation. Assessing implementation fidelity can help understand factors that may influence their implementation. This study aims to document the evolution of ABI implementation fidelity…

This research examines the use of teaching triads to the classroom-wide implementation of "Stay, Play & Talk" a peer-mediated social skills program for children in an inclusive Kindergarten classroom in Ontario, Canada. This research used prompting through peers to increase initiations and responses between children identified as…

The Ontario Human Rights Commission's (OHCR) "Right to Read Report" calls for school districts to implement early literacy interventions that have been scientifically proven to be effective for young children with reading difficulties. The acknowledgment of early intervention as an essential service for young children experiencing…

Purpose: The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on autistic children/youth and their families and on service providers are not yet well-understood. This study explored the lived experiences of families with an autistic child and service providers who support them regarding the impacts of the pandemic on service delivery and well-being. Methods: In…

Strategies to support children's participation when their sensory needs are not met are misunderstood and not sufficiently supported by scientific evidence. However, early childhood educators who work with autistic children in an inclusive setting need support to understand these reactions and implement effective strategies to promote their…

Background and Aims: Early intervention (EI) for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) must be resource-efficient while remaining effective; thus, clinicians are challenged to create and implement useful methods. Clinical evidence from community-based interventions that include reliable diagnoses, individual EI programs, along with…

The Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS), PEDS: Developmental Milestones (PEDS: DM) and PEDS tools (i.e., the PEDS and PEDS:DM combined for use) are parent-reported screening tools frequently used to identify young children requiring early intervention. An ideal screening tool for all contexts would be brief, inexpensive with…

Supportive parent-child interactions are critical for facilitating typically developing children's language and social skill development. For children who are late-to-talk, parent-child interactions may be particularly important to address as a means of supporting growth in children's early language abilities. Target Word is one parent-implemented…

The publicly funded early intervention program for preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Nova Scotia, Canada, uses the pivotal response treatment (PRT) model. Parents are coached in use of PRT strategies during their children's first week of treatment. We explored whether parents of older preschoolers with limited verbal ability…

This work examined speech and language skills of a cohort of children with unilateral and bilateral mild/moderate hearing loss at time of discharge from preschool therapy services as they were transitioning to the school system. The study consisted of a retrospective chart review of children born between 2003 and 2011 and identified with a…

Advocating for a child's rights and needs is an experience shared by most families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This qualitative study is an in-depth secondary content analysis of the discourse of 13 immigrant families on their advocacy experience during the early childhood period. Results revealed that, from very early on,…

The pathway for post-diagnostic services for autism tends to be complex, heterogeneous, and fraught with delays. This situation has repercussions for families' experience with care systems, the quality of early interventions, and family adjustment. To date, studies of parents' point of view on autism services have predominantly focused on the…

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) released a report that applies two methodological approaches new to the WWC that together aim to improve researchers' understanding of how early literacy interventions may work to improve outcomes for students in grades K-3. First, this report pilots a new taxonomy developed by early literacy experts and…

Although a growing number of caregiver-mediated intervention models for families with children with autism are being examined in efficacy trials, few have been transferred to community implementation. Furthermore, little testing has explored implementation strategies to support caregivers' strategy use with their children. In partnership with a…

Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention (EIBI) is effective for preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Parental measures are rarely included in EIBI effectiveness studies, yet parental distress and lower self-efficacy are associated with poorer child outcomes. Parents of preschoolers with ASD (N = 485) were surveyed at baseline (T1),…