Authors: Christina Whalen Laura Schreibman Brooke Ingersoll
Publish Date: 2006/06/30
Volume: 36, Issue: 5, Pages: 655-664
Abstract
Joint attention may be a core deficit in autism which underlies the abnormal development of later emerging socialcommunication behaviors Given this theory researchers have suggested that teaching young children with autism to engage in joint attention may lead to collateral increases in other nontargeted socialcommunication behaviors In this study children with autism participated in a 10week joint attention training program and collateral changes in nontargeted behaviors were assessed Following participation in the intervention positive collateral changes were observed in social initiations positive affect imitation play and spontaneous speech Results support the hypothesis that teaching joint attention skills leads to improvement in a variety of related skills and have implications for the treatment of young children with autismThis research was funded in part from support by US Public Health Grant No MH39434 from the National Institute of Mental Health This paper was also supported by a center grant from the National Institute of Mental Health No U54MH066399 which is part of the NIH STAART Centers Program We are grateful to all of the families who participated in this research We also are appreciative of the undergraduate research assistants who helped in the implementation of this study
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