Interaction style project
A collaborative research project between Giant Steps and the University of Sydney is currently examining whether changing a caregiver’s interaction style may transform positively the quality and quantity of referencing and commenting in young children with autism.
The project has been funded by Telstra, Australia’s leading telecommunications company, and is being led by Dr Jacqueline Roberts who specialises in autism spectrum disorders as a researcher at the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Education and Social Work. The project is being supported by other university staff and Giant Steps staff and families.
It has been recognised for some time that deficits in the development of joint attention, sharing information and referencing others are core characteristics of autism. These characteristics are evident in very young children with autism and have profound effects on the development of communication and social relating which in turn impacts on all aspects of development. At Giant Steps there is great interest in programs designed to remediate these deficits, however there is a lack of empirically based research into the outcomes of these intervention programs. As a result, the University of Sydney has designed a research project to examine the effect of specific intervention on these core characteristics.
We are interested in the effect of training both parents and staff to change their interaction style by increasing the amount of declarative and decreasing imperative communication (verbal and nonverbal) and focusing on referencing. There are four groups of five children; a parent training group, a staff training group, a comparison group receiving the usual Giant Steps program and a control group from outside the school. The ratios of imperative/declarative communication of the children and caregivers have been measured pre and then post intervention as will referencing, communication, cognitive development and independent functioning in children. We are also interested in any potential effect on parent stress and coping. While the project won’t be completed until June next year, some parents are already reporting changes in their child’s engagement with them and are much more aware of the manner in which they communicate with their child.
