Leveraging Autism Intervention for Families Using Telehealth (LIFT)

University of Oregon

Status: Not yet enrolling

Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder

Treatments: Behavioral: ONLINE; Behavioral: COACH

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05582655

R324B200017

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of the LIFT study is to develop a technology-assisted adaptation of the JASPER (Joint Attention, Symbolic Play, Engagement, and Regulation: Kasari et al., 2021) social communication intervention for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In partnership with community early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) practitioners in Oregon, implementation strategies to help caregivers learn to the use the intervention strategies with their young children will delivered in a pilot randomized trial. The pilot trial will compare primarily self-directed learning through online materials and brief practitioner support (ONLINE) with the addition of live synchronous coaching (ONLINE + COACH) on caregivers' strategy use (primary) and children's joint engagement and social communication (secondary).

Enrollment: 80 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: Under 72 months old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Receiving Early Intervention (EI) or Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) services from partnered providers in Southern Oregon Education Service District (SOESD).
• Child has received or is awaiting a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Exclusion criteria

• Child is not receiving services from a partnered educational service district

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Sequential Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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80 participants in 2 patient groups

ONLINE

Experimental group

Description:

This strategy will primarily include self-directed family access to the online JASPER modules developed for this project. The online modules follow a stepped hierarchy beginning with foundational concepts (e.g., engagement states) and systematically adding new concepts and strategies each week (e.g., balancing imitation and modeling, play routines). Access to the modules will be paired with a weekly brief (20 minute) check-in call provided by a community interventionist. The call is designed to create a space for the caregiver to ask questions about the week's content and to provide basic troubleshooting for implementation. Slower responders to phase 1 ONLINE intervention will intensify to receive COACH in phase 2.

Treatment:

Behavioral: ONLINE

ONLINE + COACH

Experimental group

Description:

Families randomized to add coaching will receive access to the ONLINE intervention program as described above. However, every second check in call will be shifted to a 45-minute live coaching session with their community interventionist. The coaching session will begin with a brief check-in and review of the target content for the session. This will be followed by support to set up the environment. The child will then join the interaction and the interventionist will provide real time coaching supports for the caregiver to practice the intervention strategies with their child. The session will end with a short discussion to debrief on the practice session. Slower responders to phase 1 ONLINE + COACH intervention will intensify in phase 2 where check in calls are modified to include video feedback and review.

Treatment:

Behavioral: ONLINE

Behavioral: COACH