A pilot evaluation of the Baby Social ABCs caregiver-mediated intervention for 6–15-month-olds with early signs of autism—feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary evidence
Baby Social ABCs over Zoom lifts caregiver fidelity and infant social orienting, smiling, and gesturing in babies showing early autism signs.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Dowds et al. (2025) tested Baby Social ABCs, a Zoom coaching program for parents of babies who show early autism signs.
Parents of 6- to 15-month-olds met a coach online and learned to prompt eye contact, smiles, and gestures.
The team tracked how well parents used the tricks and how babies responded.
What they found
Parents got better at the strategies after each Zoom session.
Babies started looking at faces more, smiling more, and using gestures like pointing.
Families said the telehealth format was easy and helpful.
How this fits with other research
Boydston et al. (2023) and Zhou et al. (2018) already showed that remote parent training can push fidelity past 80%. Dowds extends that win to infants, the youngest group yet.
Anonymous (2021) also used live Zoom coaching, but focused on joint play in toddlers. Dowds keeps the live-coach model and shifts the target to social communication in babies.
Lee et al. (2022) tried self-paced online modules and saw no child data. Dowds adds live feedback, and child social behaviors improved, suggesting real-time coaching beats solo modules.
Why it matters
You now have an evidence-based way to start parent coaching before the first birthday. Schedule a short Zoom, teach three social routines, and watch both caregiver fidelity and infant social bids rise within weeks.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (autism) is a neurodevelopmental condition with a high prevalence of approximately 1 in 50 children. Early intervention can support long-term outcomes. Caregiver-mediated interventions (CMIs) are evidence-based and appropriate for toddlers with autism or early social communication challenges. The Social ABCs, one such CMI, is supported by robust evidence. Originally developed for toddlers (12–42 months), it shows potential for supporting social communication development even earlier, i.e., for infants with early signs of autism. The current project adapted the toddler Social ABCs for use with infants (aged 6–15 months) showing early signs of autism or with a confirmed diagnosis. This paper describes the development, acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary outcomes for the Baby Social ABCs. Nine infants (aged 6–14 months) participated. Families either self-referred or were referred by community clinicians and were eligible based on age and clinician and/or parent concerns about social communication and/or behavioral differences. Each infant and one of their primary caregivers participated in the 12-week Baby Social ABCs intervention online via Zoom for Healthcare. Caregiver implementation fidelity increased significantly, along with infant responsivity and social communication behaviors (social orienting, shared smiling, and gesturing). The caregivers reported high satisfaction with the coaching approach, session structure, and curriculum. This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of the Baby Social ABCs as a novel CMI for infants with signs of emerging autism and showed promising effects on the caregivers’ fidelity and the infants’ social communication and engagement. Future research should consider the optimal timing (or personalized “fit”) for families to access such support to better understand the type and intensity of pre-diagnostic care that best meets families’ diverse needs.
Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2025 · doi:10.3389/frcha.2025.1689781