Alumni: Kaleigh Regehr

There is evidence of a genetic component in autism: about 5% of younger siblings become autistic if their older sibling has been diagnosed with autism. Behavior and development related to ASD may be seen in 26% of the infant siblings. Autism is generally not diagnosed until age 3 years, yet early intensive behavioral intervention can significantly increase their chances at achieving normal functioning. Because of this, it is important to identify early symptoms of autism so that diagnosis can be made as soon as possible to allow these children the earliest intervention.

This MA thesis is divided into two parts. The first study is a preliminary psychometric evaluation of two parent-report measures used in the prospective study: the Parent Observation Checklist (POC), given monthly, and the Infant Behavior Summary Evaluation (IBSE), given bimonthly. The ultimate purpose of this project is to devise valid, low-cost instruments that can detect autistic symptoms in infants. It is expected that both measures will have acceptable psychometric properties, and will be appropriate to monitor early signs of ASD in at-risk infants. These instruments can also be used to evaluate early interventions on specific child symptoms.

The second part of the thesis involves a telephone interview of parents who have identified their high-risk infants as already showing developmental and/or behavior problems that may be indicative of incipient ASD. A service questionnaire is administered to see what interventions (including strategies recommended by the researchers) their at-risk infants (and affected older child) are receiving, how satisfied the parents are with them and how effective they feel the interventions are. In addition, (where possible), pre, during, and post POC and IBSE scores will be used to evaluate the effects of interventions.

Preliminary results from 15 prospective families for the second part of the thesis are available. Affected siblings are receiving an average of 6.8 services (range 3-11), while infants at risk are receiving an average of 1.9 services (ranging from 0-4). Parents also report that they are involved in their children’s services, feel satisfied with them, and think that services are effective. Interestingly, the parents report using a variety of non-validated interventions for both their infant as well as their affected child (e.g., diet therapy, occupational therapy). The findings of this thesis will have implications for the early detection and intervention with infants at-risk for ASD.