Effectiveness Trial of Mobile ESI for Toddlers With Autism Identified by Early Screening in Primary Care

"Families in the Treatment as Usual (TAU) condition will receive usual care and EI services in their community, which will be tracked with the BSRC Intervention History Form. Because all families join My Baby Navigator and will be screened by the SoCo CheckUp, families in both conditions will have access to the Seamless Path for Families which includes online tools about social communication developmental milestones. Families will also have access to Autism Navigator About Autism in Toddlers, the ASD Video Glossary, and the Autism Navigator How-to Guide for Families, a self-guided online course."

The ESI-MC coach will offer 24 weekly sessions for the 6-month ESI-MC condition. The parent will be the focus of training. Each session includes: setting the stage to develop that session's agenda; intervention implementation with these coaching steps: a) review the target, b) use guided/caregiver practice, or video review to teach the strategy, c) provide specific feedback to support caregiver reflection and independence in the activity, and d) problem solving and plan for next time; steps a-d are repeated for 3-5 activities per session; and summarize plans for deliberate practice between sessions. Families will be invited to participate in the online Autism Navigator How-To Guide, a self-guided online course and companion to the online group education meetings to engage families in the content of the online course and provide support through interaction with other families. Families will also participate in TAU usual care and EI services in their community.