The impact of caregiver-mediated JASPER on child restricted and repetitive behaviors and caregiver responses.
JASPER coaching for parents did not lower toddler RRBs but made caregiver replies faster and smarter.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Harrop et al. (2017) tested caregiver-mediated JASPER with toddlers who have autism. Parents learned to play on the floor and respond to repetitive behaviors during play.
The team used a randomized design. Half the families got JASPER coaching. The rest kept their usual services.
What they found
Kids’ repetitive behaviors stayed the same right after the program. Six months later, the behaviors rose a little.
Parents who got coaching responded to RRBs more often and more skillfully than control parents.
How this fits with other research
McIntyre (2020) reviewed many parent-training studies and says behavioral and mindfulness programs help caregivers feel better and cut challenging behavior. Clare’s work adds a play-based twist to that story.
Pisman et al. (2020) also coached parents to play, but they wove mand and tact trials into the fun. Both studies show parents can learn to teach without ruining the game.
Lydon et al. (2017) found that direct behavioral intervention beat sensory integration for challenging behavior. Clare’s study did not reduce RRBs, but it did improve caregiver responses, showing a softer, indirect path.
Why it matters
You may not erase repetitive behaviors, yet you can still help families. Teach caregivers to notice RRBs during play and respond with gentle redirection or shared attention moves. This keeps the interaction alive and gives parents a clear role. Try adding a five-minute parent-coaching loop at the end of your next play session: model one response, have the parent copy, and give immediate feedback.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are a core feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Compared to the social-communication impairments, we know considerably less about why children engage in RRBs and if and how to intervene with these behaviors. As a result, early intervention has typically focused on social-communication. In this study, we were interested in understanding how child RRBs changed following an intervention targeting social-communication behaviors and if caregiver training changed how they responded to their child's RRBs. Eighty-six toddlers with ASD and their caregivers received one of two interventions: caregivers were either actively coached while playing with their child (JASPER) or attended information sessions about ASD. On three different occasions (when they entered the study, following 10 weeks of intervention and 6-months after) caregivers were filmed playing with their child. From these recordings, we coded child RRBs and caregiver responses to these behaviors. Child RRBs remained relatively stable following intervention in both groups, but increased when the children returned at 6-months. Caregivers who received one-on-one coaching (JASPER) responded to a greater number of their child's RRBs and their responses were rated as more successful. Our study showed that a short-term social-communication intervention delivered through caregivers had "spillover effects" on how they also responded to their child's RRBs. Interventions targeting social-communication behaviors should also examine how these treatments affect child RRBs and how caregiver responses to these behaviors may change following training. Autism Res 2017, 10: 983-992. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2017 · doi:10.1111/jcpp.12481