Service Delivery

Inclusive Preschool Practitioners' Implementation of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention Using Telehealth Training.

D'Agostino et al. (2020) · Journal of autism and developmental disorders 2020
★ The Verdict

A three-step telehealth bundle turns inclusive preschool teachers into solid NDBI users and lifts child communication in one week.

✓ Read this if BCBAs who coach preschool or pre-K staff in public schools or Head Start.
✗ Skip if Clinicians serving only older students or home-based ABA teams.

01Research in Context

01

What this study did

D'Agostino et al. (2020) asked if preschool teachers could learn NDBI through telehealth. They used an online module, video self-review, and Zoom feedback. The teachers worked with children who had mixed diagnoses in inclusive classrooms.

The team tracked how well teachers used the strategies and how much the kids talked. They checked if skills stuck after training ended.

02

What they found

The telehealth package worked. Teachers used NDBI steps correctly and kept doing it later. Kids spoke more during class activities.

Skills moved to new toys and new kids. No one needed in-person coaching.

03

How this fits with other research

Spriggs et al. (2016) already showed preschool NDBI boosts language, but coaches were in the room. Sophia simply swapped the coach for a screen.

D'Agostino et al. (2025) surveyed teachers two years later. Teachers still liked NDBI but wanted more coaching. Sophia’s telehealth bundle gives them exactly that without travel.

Ip et al. (2024) and Ayuso-Lanchares et al. (2025) both used telehealth parent training for preschoolers. They got good results too, showing the screen works for language and sleep alike.

Zhou et al. (2024) stretched the idea further, teaching foreign-language intraverbals to elementary students via telehealth. Together these papers build a roadmap: start with Sophia’s package in preschool, then keep the screen as kids move up.

04

Why it matters

You can train inclusive preschool staff without leaving your office. Send the teacher a short video module, have them record a session, and give feedback on Zoom. In a week you have high-fidelity NDBI and louder kids. No sub days, no mileage, no Covid risk.

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→ Action — try this Monday

Email one inclusive preschool teacher a 20-minute NDBI module and ask them to send you a 10-minute video by Friday.

02At a glance

Intervention
telehealth parent training
Design
multiple baseline across participants
Sample size
6
Population
mixed clinical
Finding
positive

03Original abstract

This single-case investigation was designed to evaluate the effects of telehealth training on practitioner implementation of a naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention (NDBI). Six general education preschool practitioners engaged in an intervention with six children with varying disabilities in inclusive classroom settings. The telehealth training package included a collaborative approach to intervention planning, online training module, video self-evaluation, and performance feedback via videoconferencing. Following telehealth training, practitioners reached criteria for implementation fidelity and increased communication opportunities. Additionally, child participants increased communication behaviors above baseline levels. All behaviors generalized to a different activity context and maintained over time. Social validity was measured and results suggest high levels of acceptability for the telehealth training package.

Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2020 · doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04319-z