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In this systematic evaluation of intervention research for transition-age autistic youth, we examined quality indicators in 193 group and single-case design intervention studies, which tested effects on 1258 outcomes. Behaviorally based interventions were the most common intervention type. We found significant threats to internal validity for the majority of studies, including inadequate randomization, unmasked assessors, and too few data points to infer functional relations. The majority of outcomes were measured in contexts similar to the intervention and were conceptualized as behaviors directly addressed by intervention procedures. As such, they are of unclear long-term utility for autistic people entering adulthood. Adverse events were rarely reported. We suggest several avenues for improving intervention research for this age group.

This study is a qualitative investigation of caregiver-child interactions, involving 15 autistic children who are in the early stages of language learning. Data consisted of 15-min videos of free-play interactions recorded in a University clinic. We use conversation analysis to examine the sequence organization of proposal episodes, where the caregiver proposes some course of action regarding the child's play activity. Prior work has used a speech act theoretical framework to identify follow-in directives, which are similar to proposals, but identified at the utterance level rather than at the level of social action. According to conversation analysis, social actions are implemented over multiple interactional turns and produced in collaboration between interaction partners. Our analysis showed that caregivers design their talk in ways that enable autistic children's participation in interactional turn-taking by forecasting the upcoming proposal. They also socialize children into expectations around turn-taking, by providing an "interaction envelope" around children's conduct so that it can be construed as completing interactional sequences. Finally, we show how autistic children can display an orientation to turn-taking by timing their interactive moves to occur at transitional moments in the interaction in ways similar to adult conversational turn-taking.

Looking to the mouth of a talker early in life predicts expressive communication. We hypothesized that looking at a talker's mouth may signal that infants are ready for increased supported joint engagement and that it subsequently facilitates prelinguistic vocal development and translates to broader gains in expressive communication. We tested this hypothesis in 50 infants aged 6-18 months with the heightened and general population-level likelihood of autism diagnosis (Sibs-autism and Sibs-NA; respectively). We measured infants' gaze to a speaker's face using an eye-tracking task, supported joint engagement during parent--child free play sessions, vocal complexity during a communication sample, and broader expressive communication. Looking at the mouth was indirectly associated with expressive communication via increased higher-order supported joint engagement and vocal complexity. This indirect effect did not vary according to sibling status. This study provides preliminary insights into the mechanisms by which looking at the mouth may influence expressive communication development.

Our team examined 150 reports on group-design, non-pharmacological interventions for young autistic children, to determine the prevalence of adverse event reporting. We found that only 11 studies mentioned adverse events; one indicated adverse events occurred, and an additional three indicated adverse "effects" occurred (i.e. adverse events that could be attributed to the intervention). We also coded reasons for participant withdrawal and found that of the 54 studies that reported reasons for withdrawal, 10 studies reported reasons that could be categorized as adverse events, 8 reported reasons that could be categorized as adverse effects, and an additional 12 studies reported reasons that were too vaguely described to determine adverse event status. We recommend that autism intervention researchers make concerted efforts to monitor, classify, and report adverse events so that practitioners, policy-makers, and families are better equipped to weigh potential benefits of interventions against potential harms.

Cross-lagged panel analysis was used to examine associations between two joint engagement variables; higher order supported joint engagement and higher order supported joint engagement that co-occurs with caregiver's follow-in talk (higher order supported joint engagement + follow-in), and expressive and receptive vocabulary in a group of young autistic children (n = 91) with language delay (mean chronological age = 39 months). Variables were measured twice, 8 months apart. Coefficients for cross-lagged variable pairs were derived from structural equation models. Early higher order supported joint engagement was significantly associated with later expressive and receptive vocabulary (bs = 0.18 and 0.26, respectively), and early higher order supported joint engagement + follow-in was significantly associated with later expressive and receptive vocabulary (bs = 0.14 and 0.15, respectively). Associations between early vocabulary and later joint engagement were not significant. Linear contrasts between cross-lagged associations did not show a significantly superior association for any early joint engagement variables and later vocabulary variables. However, our results suggest that higher order supported joint engagement and higher order supported joint engagement + follow-in may be useful initial intervention targets for developmental interventions aimed at promoting autistic children's language development who are initially language delayed.

Purpose: This study aims to help researchers design observational measurement systems that yield sufficiently stable scores for estimating caregiver talk among caregivers of infant siblings of autistic and non-autistic children. Stable estimates minimize error introduced by facets of the measurement system, such as variability between coders or measurement sessions. Method: Analyses of variance were used to partition error variance between coder and session and to derive g coefficients. Decision studies determined the number of sessions and coders over which scores must be averaged to achieve sufficiently stable g coefficients (0.80). Twelve infants at elevated likelihood of an autism diagnosis and 12 infants with population-level likelihood of autism diagnosis participated in two semistructured observation sessions when the children were 12--18 months of age and again 9 months later. Caregiver follow-in talk was coded from these sessions. Results: Two sessions and one coder were needed to achieve sufficient stability for follow-in talk and follow-in comments for both groups of infants at both time points. However, follow-in directives did not reach sufficient stability for any combination of sessions or coders for the population-level likelihood group at either time point, or for the elevated likelihood group at Time 2. Conclusion: Researchers should plan to collect at least two sessions to derive sufficiently stable estimates of caregiver talk in infants at elevated and general population--level likelihood for autism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined autistic undergraduate students' college experiences and their perceptions about their intentions to persist in college. Semi-structured online interviews were conducted with 27 autistic undergraduate students (mean age = 21.8 years; 40.7% men) and their responses were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Students discussed their perspectives about revealing their autism diagnosis the value of the social community or lack thereof the process of getting accommodations from professors and autism acceptance on campus. Students perceived that their intentions to persist in college were related to their desire to learn the practical utility of a college degree the symbolic value of a degree and the value placed on education by their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used an online survey to gather perspectives of autistic youth (n = 248) on the impacts of autism, school professionals, family members, and peers on their high school experiences; what each stakeholder group could have done better; and what future high school professionals and autistic youth should know. Two-thirds of participants viewed autism as negatively impacting their school experience, and this was more prevalent in women. The majority viewed impacts of school professionals, family, and peers as positive. Women were more likely to view school professional contributions as positive than men, and LGBT youth were more likely to view school professional and peer contributions as negative than non-LGBT youth. Suggestions for stakeholders included providing more help, care, and quality time.

We explored third- to fifth-grade children's friendship concepts in 20 autistic and 21 nonautistic students matched for mental age. Transcripts of semi-structured interviews were coded for definitions of friendship, friendship expectations, and friendship transgressions (i. e., violations of friendship expectations), and subjected to quantitative content analysis. Findings demonstrated that children's definitions of friendship were largely aligned with their views on friendship expectations and transgressions. Kindness was significantly less salient to autistic children's definitions of friendship than for their nonautistic peers; otherwise, the two groups showed conceptualizations of friendship that were quite similar. Findings have implications for practitioners and researchers seeking to support autistic children's friendship experiences and bring to light important considerations for researchers seeking to better understand autistic friendship experiences.

Purpose: This study synthesized effects of interventions on language outcomes of young children (ages 0-8 years) with autism and evaluated the extent to which summary effects varied by intervention, participant, and outcome characteristics. Method: A subset of effect sizes gathered for a larger meta-analysis (the Autism Intervention Meta-analysis or Project AIM) examining the effects of interventions for young children with autism, which were specific to language outcomes, was analyzed. Robust variance estimation and metaregression were used to calculate summary and moderated effects while controlling for intercorrelation among outcomes within studies. Results: A total of 221 outcomes were gathered from 60 studies. The summary effect of intervention on language outcomes was small but significant. Summary effects were larger for expressive and composite language outcomes compared to receptive language outcomes. Interventions implemented by clinicians, or by clinicians and caregivers together, had summary effects that were significantly larger than interventions implemented by caregivers alone. Participants' pretreatment language age equivalent scores positively and significantly moderated intervention effects, such that effects were significantly larger on average when samples of children had higher pretreatment language levels. Effects were not moderated by cumulative intervention intensity, intervention type, autism symptomatology, chronological age, or the proximity or boundedness of outcomes. Study quality concerns were apparent for a majority of included outcomes. Conclusions: We found evidence that intervention can facilitate improvements in language outcomes for young children with autism. Effects were largest for expressive and composite language outcomes, for children with initially higher language abilities, and for interventions implemented by clinicians or by caregivers and clinicians combined. However, quality concerns of included studies and borderline significance of some results temper our conclusions regarding intervention effectiveness and corresponding moderators.

Many youth with autism spectrum disorder participate in school-based, peer-mediated intervention programs designed to improve their social experiences. However, there is little research discerning how these youth view intervention practices currently represented in the literature, information which could improve the social validity of intervention programming. In this mixed-methods study, we interviewed 33 youth with autism spectrum disorder about seven social-focused, peer-mediated intervention components. We asked participants to rate the favorability of each component to determine their degree of liking. Subsequently, we asked participants to give a rationale for their rating,in order to explore influencing factors. Chi-square tests indicated that high ratings were most prevalent for "recruiting peers" and "family involvement" and medium ratings were most prevalent for "meeting with peers." Analyses of variance also indicated that preferences in the specific format intervention components were delivered. Several themes emerged from our qualitative analysis of open-ended responses, including the ramifications of adults in adolescent social life, the advantages of learning through shared activities with peers, and the effects of disclosing disability status. Our findings will offer guidance for researchers and practitioners interested in individualizing interventions to reflect student preferences. Furthermore, we document areas of concern for youth with autism spectrum disorder as they access school-based interventions. [This paper was published in "Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice" (EJ1087175).]

Although peer interaction takes on increased salience during adolescence, such social connections remain elusive for many high school students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This social isolation can be particularly prevalent within unstructured school contexts.In this study, we examined the effects of a lunchtime peer network intervention on the social engagement and peer interactions of four adolescent students with ASD. Upon introduction of the peer networks, we observed substantial increases in the percentage of intervals containing peer interactions and social engagement across all participants. Further, students with ASD, peer partners, and school personnel all considered the intervention to be acceptable and feasible. We offer recommendations for research and practice aimed at enhancing the efficacy and social validity of peer-mediated interventions at the secondary school level. [This paper was published in "Exceptional Children" (EJ1074986).]

Background: Prior research has described the prevalence and utility of questions in children's language learning environment. However, there has been little empirical investigation of the interaction sequences that ensue following caregiver questions. Understanding these interactions may be especially important for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who may have difficulty engaging in reciprocal interactions. Question-response-evaluation sequences (QRE) are a particular type of interaction sequence launched by questions that have been examined primarily in classroom contexts. Less research has been devoted to understanding how caregivers and children with ASD leverage this interactional format in the context of home interactions. Aims: We focus on QRE sequences within interactions between a 5-year-old bilingual child with ASD and his parents. In these sequences, the adult poses known-answer questions, the child responds and the adult evaluates the response. QRE sequences are primarily structured by the questioner (i.e., the parents in our context), and we examine the interactive work done by parents to initiate, maintain and close these sequences. We also examine the child's contributions to these sequences. Methods & Procedures: We applied conversation analysis (CA) to video recordings of home routines, such as play, book-reading and schoolwork. Videos were fully transcribed using CA conventions, and 55 QRE segments were isolated from the data corpus for further analysis. Outcomes & Results: Q-word questions (i.e., where, what, why, when, how questions) were the most prevalent question format, and repetition of the child's response was the most prevalent form of evaluation. We found that QRE sequences were embedded within a variety of action trajectories that extend beyond pedagogical functions. These included repairing a prior utterance, extending collaborative play routines and engaging in topically connected labelling rituals. Conclusions & Implications: QRE sequences appeared to strike a balance in terms of the level of constraint they placed on the child's contributions to interactions, and the affordances they provide for participating in and progressing through interactions. This study can help clinicians understand the types of interactions that can be pursued with QRE sequences in their work with children with ASD. The findings may also aid intervention researchers' efforts to leverage caregivers' existing strengths for adapting their interactional overtures to maximize children's engagement. Finally, this study provides an illustration of caregiver-child interactions in a population that is currently under-represented in the literature.

We examined children's responses to vignettes depicting a child making one of four friendship transgressions; failing to provide validation, failing to provide help, being an unreliable partner, and betrayal. Twenty elementary students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 21 typically developing (TD) students participated. Children rated emotional responses, the strategies they would use following each transgression, interpretations of transgressions, and goals of their responses. Children with ASD rated sadness lower than TD children, and rated verbal aggression strategies higher than TD children. There were several significant correlations between emotional responses and goals, strategies, and interpretations in the ASD group. Betrayal was considered the most severe transgression. These results will aid researchers aiming to support friendship maintenance in children with ASD.

We assessed 3rd-5th grade children's endorsement of 12 friendship expectations, in two mental age-matched (M = 10.15 years) groups; one with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n = 20) and one with typical development (TD; n = 21). Groups rated friendship expectations similarly for all but one expectation, expressing care, which received significantly higher ratings in the ASD group. Overall expectation ratings were significantly and positively correlated with friendship quality in the ASD group (r = 0.43), but not the TD, group (r = 0.08). Expectations were not correlated with loneliness or self-worth in either group. In children with ASD, expectations pertaining to reliability/trust, kindness/caring, and help/reciprocity were rated highest, followed by togetherness/amusement, and finally by intimacy/disclosure.

The relation between caregiver follow-in utterances with verbs presented in different states of dyadic engagement and later child expressive verb vocabulary in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was examined in 29 toddlers with ASD and their caregivers. Caregiver verb input in follow-in utterances presented during higher order supported joint engagement (HSJE) accounted for a significant, large amount of variance in later child verb vocabulary; R[superscript 2]= 0.26. This relation remained significant when controlling for early verb vocabulary or verb input in lower support engagement states. Other types of talk in follow-in utterances in HSJE did not correlate with later verb vocabulary. These findings are an important step towards identifying interactional contexts that facilitate verb learning in children with ASD.

We examined differences between children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing children over an 8-month period in: (a) longitudinal associations between expressive and receptive vocabulary and (b) the extent to which caregiver utterances provided within an "optimal" engagement state mediated the pathway from early expressive to later receptive vocabulary. In total, 59 children (28-53 months at Time 1) comprised the autism spectrum disorder group and 46 children (8-24 months at Time 1) comprised the typically developing group. Groups were matched on initial vocabulary sizes. Results showed that the association between early expressive and later receptive vocabulary was moderated by group. A moderated mediation effect was also found, indicating linguistic input provided within an optimal engagement state only mediated associations for the autism spectrum disorder group.

Purpose: The language that school professionals use to describe disabled students can reveal and perpetuate ableist assumptions. Professionals' language choices can also challenge ableist attitudes to help create more inclusive, equitable learning environments. This tutorial seeks to guide speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and other school professionals to identify ableist language, understand the ableist ideologies that such language reveals, and develop strategies to implement ways of communicating with and about disabled students that align with an anti-ableist stance. We offer a brief description of ableism in schools, describe models of disability and their varying alignments toward ableist ideologies, and identify ways in which language can reflect and perpetuate ableism. Using Individualized Education Program goals as an example, we examine the ways in which ableist language can manifest in school practices. Finally, we provide suggestions to guide SLPs and other school professionals to examine and change their language to better align with an anti-ableist stance. Conclusions: School professionals' language use is not neutral and may reveal and maintain ableist assumptions about disability and disabled students. While dismantling ableism requires systemic change, we suggest that individual professionals can use language in ways that resist ableism and powerfully impact their students' educational experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this secondary systematic review of single-case and controlled group design intervention studies conducted with transition-age autistic youth, we examined features of 48 studies with 273 participants that measured at least one "problem behavior" outcome (Prospero registration number: 231764). We searched 11 databases for relevant studies, and the final search date was November 2022. Our primary aims were to determine how problem behaviors were defined and selected for reduction, how functions were determined, and the interventions used to address them. Studies were coded and codes were tabulated and converted to percentages to answer each research question. Thirty-eight percent of studies defined problem behavior, and 88% of studies implemented behavioral strategies to reduce problem behaviors. Behaviors with low potential for harm constituted the majority of the 67 outcome variables (61%), while behaviors with high potential for harm were a minority (39%). The most common intervention target was stereotypic behavior. Fewer than half of studies: reported procedures for selecting behaviors, reported procedures to determine behavior function, or ascribed functions to behaviors. We were unable to report on some demographic features of participants (e.g. race/ethnicity) because they were rarely reported in primary studies. We conclude that problem behavior is poorly conceptualized in this research. In a previous study, we looked at research done on strategies to support autistic people who were between 14 and 22 years old. For this study, we looked at all of the studies in our previous study that tried to decrease or stop autistic people from doing certain things—many researchers call these things "problem behavior." There were 48 studies that tried to reduce problem behavior, and most of them used strategies like prompting and reinforcement to try get autistic people to change their behavior. We found many things wrong with these studies. Most of them did not define the group of behaviors they were trying to stop autistic people from doing. None of the studies looked at whether any side effects happened when they tried the strategy they were studying. Also, most of the studies tried to stop autistic people from doing behaviors that probably were not harmful, like stereotypic behavior. Most of the studies did not say how they decided that the behaviors they tried to stop were a problem for the autistic people in the study, and most studies did not try to figure out why the autistic people in the study did the behaviors the researchers were trying to stop them from doing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a multi-pronged investigation of different types of reporting bias in autism early childhood intervention research. First, we investigated the prevalence of reporting failures of completed trials registered on clinicaltrials.gov, and found that only 7% of registered trials were updated with results on the registration platform and only 64% had associated published reports. Next, we investigated the extent to which inadequate reporting prevents inclusion in meta-analytic summary estimates by identifying reports of studies that were eligible for inclusion in a prior meta-analysis, and found that 25% were excluded due to inadequate reporting. Finally, we investigated selective reporting practices by analyzing the protocols of the studies included in the meta-analysis which had been registered on any trial registry and coding their timing, completeness, and consistency. We found that 23% of studies were pre-registered, 71% were late-registered, and 5% were registered at an unclear date. Only 8% of registrations specified all of the necessary components. Evidence of selective reporting was common; 36% failed to report a registered outcome, 61% reported unregistered outcomes, 23% switched primary and secondary outcomes, and 43% had assessment timepoints that differed from registration specification. Given the inadequacy of registration and reporting practices, we offer practical recommendations to facilitate improvement for the field of autism research. When researchers fail to report their findings or only report some of their findings, it can make it difficult for clinicians to provide effective intervention recommendations. However, no one has examined whether this is a problem in studies of early childhood autism interventions. We studied how researchers that study early childhood autism interventions report their findings. We found that most researchers did not register their studies when they were supposed to (before the start of the study), and that many researchers did not provide all of the needed information in the registration. We also found that researchers frequently did not publish their findings when their studies were complete. When we looked at published reports, we found that many of the studies did not report enough information, and that many studies were reported differently from their registrations, suggesting that researchers were selectively reporting positive outcomes and ignoring or misrepresenting less positive outcomes. Because we found so much evidence that researchers are failing to report their findings quickly and correctly, we suggested some practical changes to make it better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses some of the key considerations and complexities associated with intervening to address social competence and peer relationships of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in middle and high school settings. First, we provide a brief overview of the social context during adolescence for all students. Next, we highlight particular challenges for adolescents with ASD. Then, we discuss potential school-based intervention pathways that appear particularly responsive to these contexts and challenges. Finally, we offer several recommendations for research and practice aimed at improving the social competence and connections of young people with ASD--during high school and into early adulthood. [This paper was published in "Remedial and Special Education" (EJ1021132).]

Peer-play experiences are a vital part of children's socialization, development, and culture. Children with autism face distinct challenges in social and imaginary play, which place them at high risk for being excluded by peers. Without explicit support, they are likely to remain isolated from peers and the consistent interactive play that encourages developmental growth. This article focuses on the theory and use of Integrated Play Groups (IPGs), which offer a comprehensive, research-based intervention that helps children on the autism spectrum engage in play with typical peers in regular social settings. The article examines the nature of play and the developmental and sociocultural problems it presents for children with autism. The authors describe IPGs, focusing on their conceptual design and the interventional approach to them called guided participation. They highlight innovative uses of IPGs for older populations and discuss Integrated Teen Social Groups. They summarize research and development efforts and discuss the implications of IPGs for the future. (Contains 3 figures.)

This study used mixed-effects logistic regression to examine undergraduates' (N = 142) evaluations and reasoning about scenarios involving disability-based exclusion. Scenarios varied by disability [autism spectrum disorder (ASD) versus learning disability (LD)], the context of exclusion (classroom versus social), and whether or not a grade was at stake. Participants were more likely to determine exclusion was acceptable if the excluded student had an ASD diagnosis, there was a grade at stake, and it occurred in a classroom. Exclusion was less likely to be considered acceptable in the "no grade" compared to the "grade" conditions for LD students, but remained high in both conditions for autistic students. This study also describes contextual variations in participants' justifications for their evaluations.

By teaching social rules thought to be necessary for social competence, social skills training (SST) curricula aim to improve indicators of well-being for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), such as the attainment of meaningful friendships. However, several recent meta-analyses indicate that SST curricula may fall short of these goals. We offer an explanation for these potentially null effects by illustrating how the content of these curricula diverge from empirical evidence derived from disciplines that take social interaction as their object of study. Next, we argue that employing the social rules advocated for by SST curricula may work counterproductively by inhibiting authenticity, while at the same time increasing stigma associated with ASD. We close with suggestions for future intervention research.

This randomized controlled trial examined the efficacy of peer network interventions to improve the social connections of 47 high school students with severe disabilities. School staff invited, trained, and supported 192 peers without disabilities to participate in individualized social groups that met throughout one semester. Compared to adolescents in the "business-as-usual" control group (n = 48), students receiving peer networks gained significantly more new social contacts and friendships. Although many peer relationships maintained one and two semesters later, their spill over beyond the school day was limited. Students and staff affirmed the social validity of the interventions. We offer recommendations for research and practice aimed at improving the implementation and impact of peer network interventions in secondary schools.

Studies of autistic traits in the general population are becoming increasingly prevalent. In this letter to the editor, we caution researchers against framing and interpreting studies of autistic traits in the general population as extending to autism and implore them to be clear about when their study sample does and does not include autistic participants.

Given the significant role that typically developing children play in the social lives of children with autism spectrum disorder, it is important to understand how they evaluate and reason about the inclusion/exclusion of children with autism spectrum disorder in social situations. The objective of this study is to determine elementary students' evaluations, reasoning patterns, and reasoning complexity regarding the failure to include children with autism spectrum disorder in social activities. Forty-four elementary-aged students participated in interviews, which included vignettes describing four contexts in which a child with autism spectrum disorder is not invited to a social event. Responses were analyzed according to social domain theory, an approach emphasizing that children identify and coordinate different domains of social knowledge, including the moral, personal, societal, and prudential. Results showed that regardless of grade and context, most children judge that failure to include on the basis of disability status is not acceptable. However, the complexity of children's reasoning (i.e. the extent to which they drew upon and coordinated multiple domains) was higher in older children. Mean complexity scores were also higher in a birthday party context as compared to a playdate context. We offer implications for future research and practice regarding the social inclusion of children with autism spectrum disorder.

This systematic review examined 26 studies that implemented interventions to reduce stigma toward autistic people; the intervention recipients were primarily non-autistic people. Participants in the included studies were primarily White K-12 or undergraduate students. Most studies utilized one-time video or computer-based instruction, and more recent interventions tended to utilize online platforms. Studies varied in several respects: whether an autistic person was involved in the development and/or delivery of interventions, the intervention content, and the types and internal consistencies of the outcome variables. Risks of bias were prevalent. Masked outcome variables were used infrequently, and investigators were usually aware of group allocation. Among randomized controlled trials, the randomization processes were not sufficiently described, and non-randomized studies of interventions frequently did not account for confounding factors that could explain changes in stigma. Many non-randomized studies of interventions made unwarranted, causal claims about the intervention effectiveness on stigma reduction, and most studies did not sufficiently address limitations related to study design and risk of bias. The recommended areas of improvement include identifying active ingredients of interventions, measuring reliable changes in behaviors and attitudes, and targeting structural stigma. In addition, more robust procedures such as randomizing participants, using masked variables, and controlling baseline differences should be utilized. How non-autistic people think about autistic people impacts autistic people negatively. Many studies developed trainings to reduce autism stigma. The existing trainings vary a lot in terms of study design, content, and reported effectiveness. This means that a review studying how the studies have been conducted is needed. We also looked at the quality of these studies. We collected and studied 26 studies that tried to reduce stigma toward autistic people. The studies often targeted White K-12 students and college students. Most trainings were implemented once. Trainings frequently used video or computer. Especially, recent studies tended to use online platforms. The study quality was poor for most studies. Some studies made inaccurate claims about the intervention effectiveness. Studies did not sufficiently address study limitations. Future trainings should aim to figure out why and how interventions work. How intervention changes people's behavior and thoughts should be studied. Researchers should study whether the training can change the societal stigma. Also, researchers should use a better study design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this discourse analytic study, we examine interactions between adolescents with autism spectrum condition (ASC) and their typically developing (TD) peers during the construction of fictional narratives within a group intervention context. We found participants with ASC contributed fewer narrative-related turns at talk than TD participants. The groups organized the activity as a means to subvert moral and social norms, and youth with ASC participated in negotiating new norms with varying degrees of success. Further, participants with ASC often prioritized making explicit links between narrative events over creative interpretations of narrative, which illustrated differing orientations to the narrative project. Our findings add an interactional dimension to existing research focusing on the psychological aspects of narrative production in individuals with ASC.

Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder often do not have access to crucial peer social activities. This study examines how typically developing adolescents evaluate decisions not to include a peer based on disability status, and the justifications they apply to these decisions. A clinical interview methodology was used to elicit judgments and justifications across four contexts. We found adolescents are more likely to judge the failure to include as acceptable in personal as compared to public contexts. Using logistic regression, we found that adolescents are more likely to provide moral justifications as to why failure to include is acceptable in a classroom as compared to home, lab group, and soccer practice contexts. Implications for intervention are also discussed.

In this secondary analysis of a previously conducted systematic review, we analyze social validity assessments in intervention research for transition-age autistic youth. Social validity is concerned with the acceptability of the intervention goals, the acceptability and feasibility of the intervention procedures, and the perceived importance of the intervention outcomes. We found that although just over half of intervention studies assessed some aspect of social validity, only 43% of those studies examined all three dimensions. There were several shortcomings of the social validation procedures, including a lack of psychometric validation for quantitatively scored questionnaires and a failure to describe qualitative procedures for analyzing open-ended questions. These shortcomings likely explain why interpretations of social validity assessments were nearly universally positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Neurodiversity-affirming practices for people with autism need to be backed by rigorous evidence of effectiveness. We discuss aspects of research design and reporting in autism intervention research that should be considered by intervention providers when providing evidence-based practices to support people with autism. We describe risks of bias, which are features of the study design that make it more likely that ineffective interventions will show evidence of effectiveness; social validation, which are procedures that determine community members' views on the intervention goals, procedures, and outcomes; the design of intervention outcome variables, including the extent to which they index lasting, meaningful change; adverse event monitoring and reporting, which is the extent to which researchers track and transparently communicate negative events that occur during or after participation in the intervention; and conflicts of interest (COIs), which are relationships held by the researcher that could result in positive researcher benefits for showing particular outcomes in their studies. We discuss several systematic reviews and evaluations of autism intervention literature that have explored the extent to which researchers have adhered to ethical guidelines around each of these issues. Conclusions: Risks of bias are prevalent in this literature, social validation is rarely rigorously conducted, and positive intervention outcomes tend to index narrow, specific change. Additionally, researchers rarely monitor or report adverse events despite evidence that they occur, and they often fail to disclose COIs or falsely claim not to have them. Clinicians and researchers should be aware of these features of autism intervention studies, so that they can make informed decisions as new, and hopefully improved, research is produced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]