TEACHING EARLY READING SKILLS TO CHILDREN WITH AUTISM USING MIMIOSPROUT EARLY READING : MimioSprout for children with autism

This paper presents an overview of 5 meta-analyses of early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) for young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) published in 2009 and 2010. There were many differences between meta-analyses, leading to different estimates of effect and overall conclusions. The weighted mean effect sizes across meta-analyses for IQ and adaptive behavior ranged from g = .38-1.19 and g = .30-1.09, respectively. Four of five meta-analyses concluded EIBI was an effective intervention strategy for many children with ASDs. A discussion highlighting potential confounds and limitations of the meta-analyses leading to these discrepancies and conclusions about the efficacy of EIBI as an intervention for young children with ASDs are provided.

A systematic literature search for studies reporting effects of Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention identified 34 studies, 9 of which were controlled designs having either a comparison or a control group. We completed a meta-analysis yielding a standardized mean difference effect size for two available outcome measures: change in full-scale intelligence and/or adaptive behavior composite. Effect sizes were computed using Hedges's g. The average effect size was 1.10 for change in full-scale intelligence (95% confidence interval = .87, 1.34) and .66 (95% confidence interval = .41, .90) for change in adaptive behavior composite. These effect sizes are generally considered to be large and moderate, respectively. Our results support the clinical implication that at present, and in the absence of other interventions with established efficacy, Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention should be an intervention of choice for children with autism.