Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention Program for Children With Autism in Syria

Wissam Mounzer,Donald M. Stenhoff

doi:10.1177/10883576211073686

Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the effect of the Future Center Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention program on children’s skills longitudinally by sex, age, and diagnoses as dependent variables. Sixty-seven children ages 1–6 years and diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder were followed up for 2 years in Syria. They were assessed twice across the 2-year program: at their first visit and at the end of the program. Assessments included the Autism Behavior Checklist, Childhood Autism Rating Scale, and Adaptive Behavioral Scale–Arabic version. Results showed that the changes in participants’ scores from pre- to post-test were statistically significant, and the treatment group showed significantly larger gains on all scales. No significant differences were found by sex and age between the pre- and post-test on all scales, while there were significant differences regarding diagnoses. The limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are described.

Highlights

Emerging in early childhood, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined by experiencing difficulties with reciprocal social communication and stereotyped interests or behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013)
Some conditions contribute to the effectiveness of early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) programs for children, including: training based on the principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA), an intensity of 25–40 hr per week, early intervention, a minimum duration of 12 months, supervision of the intervention, a childcaseworker ratio of 1:1, parental training, and parental participation (Fava & Strauss, 2014; Hepburn, 2013; Makrygianni & Reed, 2010)
We aimed to conduct an evaluation of the FC-EIBI program; here, we provide a description of its critical elements and examine the benefits and barriers of delivering EIBI to children with ASD in Syria

Summary

Introduction

Emerging in early childhood, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined by experiencing difficulties with reciprocal social communication and stereotyped interests or behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Smith and Iadarola (2015) reviewed quasi-experimental and RCT studies on EIBI published since 1998, identifying both strengths and limitations in this literature They noted that numerous quasi-experimental studies have shown positive effects similar to those found in RCTs, albeit a lack of methodological rigor was often found across them (e.g., poor subject characterization and data collectors; assessors not blinded to treatment conditions; etc.). Velazquez and Nye (2011) demonstrated that EIBI had a moderate to large effect on the IQ and adaptive behavior in young children with ASD, its impact on adaptive behavior was smaller These authors, reported that their results should be interpreted cautiously, considering that most studies presented in their review exhibited methodological issues that limited finding generalizability (e.g., sample size, study design, participant heterogeneity). They remarked that such methodological problems must be addressed in future research

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