Identified Contact Person:

Name: Meghan Sheridan

Title: Research Assistant & Interventionist

Phone: 212-772-5630

Email: meghan.sheridan@hunter.cuny.edu

Facility/Institution: Hunter College/City University of New York

Department: Department of Psychology

City, State, Zip: New York, NY 10065

Principal Investigator’s Contact Information:

Name: Michael Siller, Ph.D.

Title: Assistant Professor

Phone: 212-772-4477

Email: msiller@hunter.cuny.edu

Facility/Institution: Hunter College/City University of New York

Department: Department of Psychology

City, State, Zip: New York, NY 10065

Brief Summary of Study’s Purpose:

Children with autism show a characteristic deficit in the ability to coordinate interest in external objects or events with other people. This is referred to as joint attention, which typically develops between 9-15 months of age. Based on this observation, these researchers will focus on a home based intervention protocol called the Joint Attention Mediated Learning (JAML) model to assess the relationship between the intervention and targeted child outcomes. JAML incorporates research-based knowledge of early development in autism and the demonstrated importance of joint attention as a critical foundation for linguistic, social, and cognitive development. JAML also incorporates developmentally appropriate approaches, family centered principles, socially based learning, and infusion within natural routines to promote generalization.

Pediatricians, early intervention providers, and diagnostic clinics will identify potential participants, using autism screening protocols. With weekly guidance from trained interventionists, parents will mediate child learning to promote joint attention through the JAML four-phase intervention protocol as operationalized in clinician and parent manuals. The researchers will be examining the ability of the child to develop joint attention during early intervention and follow up. In light of well researched findings that joint attention predicts social-communicative competence in children with autism, this outcome measure is significant.

Study Type:

If you would like to participate in our study, you will partake in an initial screening in which you will be asked to complete a questionnaire, participate in a phone interview, and take part in one assessment session. If found eligible, four visits to Hunter College will also be scheduled over a period of 12 months. During each visit, we will evaluate your child’s developmental progress in terms of play, social interaction, and language.

About half the children and their mothers will be invited to participate in 12 in-home intervention sessions of an experimental parent education program. As part of this program, we will take a close look at your child’s behavior and find out what you can do to make play interactions more successful and gratifying. The other half of children and their mothers will be invited to participate in four in-home training sessions on increasing social and emotional development. There is no charge to participate in the study. 

Trial Sponsor(s): Autism Speaks, Inc.

Location(s) where study is being conducted: 

Facility: Hunter College
Department of Psychology
695 Park Avenue
Hunter North Building, Room 634
New York, NY 10065

Contact person: Meghan Sheridan

Phone: 212-772-5630

Email addresses: meghan.sheridan@hunter.cuny.edu

 URL where study information can be found: www.hunterplaylab.com

Eligibility Criteria:

a. Inclusion criteria: The child must show specific delays in communication or signs of early autism based on the screening and baseline assessment performance of the child.

b. Exclusion criteria: (1) The child has been diagnosed with a known medical condition that has been linked to either autism or mental retardation (e.g., Fragile X, Tuberous Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Hydrocephalus); (2) The child has a severe visual, hearing, or motor impairment or fragile health condition that would prevent him/her from validly participating in the assessment procedures.     

c. Gender: Both genders may participate
d. Minimum age: 16 months

e. Maximum age: 30 months

 Number of Participants Needed: 40

Start Date of Recruiting: Present

Closure Date: August 2010

Time Commitment Length: 12 months including an initial screening, four visits to Hunter College over a period of 12 months, and four home visits scheduled about 6 months apart. If randomized into the Active Control Sessions, you will be invited to participate in four in-home training sessions (1.5 hours each week for 4 weeks). If randomized into the Parent Education group, you will be invited to participate in twelve in-home training sessions (1.5 hours each week for 4 weeks).