Transporting and implementing a caregiver-mediated intervention for toddlers with autism in Goa, India: evidence from the social ABCs.
Social ABCs parent coaching travels well—Indian toddlers gained social and language skills after local clinicians ran the 12-week program.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Indian clinicians taught 55 parents the Social ABCs program. The 12-week course shows parents how to draw out words, eye contact, and play from toddlers with autism.
Coaches filmed each family before and after training. They scored how well parents used the strategies and how much the children talked and played.
What they found
Parents mastered the skills. Toddlers started talking more, looking longer, and sharing toys. The gains were large on both checklists.
The program worked even though no one had tried it in India before.
How this fits with other research
Klusek et al. (2022) ran the same Social ABCs in Canada and saw the same jump in child language. The new study is a direct replication on another continent.
Rouhandeh et al. (2022) got similar social gains after only four weeks of coaching. The Indian team needed 12 weeks, but served more families at once.
Capio et al. (2013) ran a year-long RCT and still saw only social gains, not language. The shorter Social ABCs gave both social and language boosts, suggesting the newer package is more efficient.
Why it matters
You can ship a Canadian parent-coaching program to Indian clinics and keep the power. If you work with toddlers, train local staff in Social ABCs and track parent fidelity with simple video checklists. The 12-week schedule fits a typical clinic block and needs no fancy gear.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
<h4>Introduction</h4>Autism is a global health priority with an urgent need for evidence-based, resource-efficient, scalable supports that are feasible for implementation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Initiating supports in the toddler years has potential to significantly impact child and family outcomes. The current paper describes the feasibility and outcomes associated with a Canadian-developed caregiver-mediated intervention for toddlers (the Social ABCs), delivered through a clinical service in Goa, India.<h4>Methods</h4>Clinical staff at the Sethu Centre for Child Development and Family Guidance in Goa, India, were trained by the Canadian program development team and delivered the program to families seen through their clinic. Using a retrospective chart review, we gathered information about participating families and used a pre-post design to examine change over time.<h4>Results</h4>Sixty-four families were enrolled (toddler mean age = 28.5 months; range: 19-35), of whom 55 (85.94%) completed the program. Video-coded data revealed that parents learned the strategies (implementation fidelity increased from <i>M</i> = 45.42% to 76.77%, <i>p</i> < .001, with over 90% of caregivers attaining at least 70% fidelity). Toddler responsivity to their caregivers (M = 7.00% vs. 46.58%) and initiations per minute (<i>M</i> = 1.16 vs. 3.49) increased significantly, <i>p</i>'s < .001. Parents also reported significant improvements in child behaviour/skills (<i>p</i> < .001), and a non-significant trend toward reduced parenting stress (<i>p</i> = .056).<h4>Discussion</h4>Findings corroborate the emerging evidence supporting the use of caregiver-mediated models in LMICs, adding evidence that such supports can be provided in the very early years (i.e., under three years of age) when learning may be optimized.
, 2024 · doi:10.3389/fresc.2024.1214009