Background & Aims

Speech-language pathology services are frequently accessed by families of children who have suspected or diagnosed autism. This is expected given that social communication differences are a core feature of autism. This review looked broadly at the state of research in the field of speech-language pathology and preschool autism interventions in order to identify the types of studies that could be used to inform the practices of speech-language pathologists (SLPs), and to identify gaps in the field so they can be addressed in future research. Specifically, we examined the extent of research conducted on interventions delivered (at least in part) by SLPs to preschool children with suspected or diagnosed autism, identified the range of skill development areas targeted within the studies, and explored the characteristics of the interventions (i.e., theoretical models underlying the programs, service delivery models, treatment dosage).

Methods

A scoping review of articles published between 1980 and 2019 was conducted using the five phases outlined by the Arksey and O’Malley framework: (a) articulating the research question; (b) identifying relevant studies; (c) selecting studies; (d) charting the data; and (e) collating, summarizing, and reporting the results.

Main Contribution/Results

A total of 114 studies met inclusion criteria with most published since 2010 and conducted within North America. Case study or single-subject study designs were the most frequently used. Interventions delivered solely by SLPs and by multiprofessional teams that included SLPs were relatively equally represented. Across the included studies, nine skill development areas were targeted, but interventions targeting social communication, language, and augmentative communication skills made up the vast majority of studies. There was relatively even distribution of interventions informed by child-centered, clinician-directed, and hybrid models. Explicit information detailing intervention characteristics (e.g., treatment dosage, professional training of clinicians delivering the intervention) was poorly reported in many studies. For those studies providing details, there was a great deal of variability in the nature of interventions (e.g., service delivery models, SLPs’ role, dosage).

Conclusions

This review revealed that research in the area of autism interventions delivered, at least in part, by SLPs has markedly increased over the past 10 years. Still, there remains a need for more research, and greater transparency detailing the nature of the interventions being investigated. The research conducted to date captures the versatility of the SLP's role within preschool autism intervention. Improved reporting and studies with strong methodological rigor focused on capturing the complex and individualized nature of interventions are needed, as are intervention studies aligned with real-world community practice.

Implications

This review provides a comprehensive examination of the status of research on preschool interventions delivered to children with suspected or diagnosed autism within the field of speech-language pathology. Several directions for future research are provided, as are suggestions for improving the clinical applicability of results to further the development of effective, evidence-informed policy and practice in speech-language pathology.

中文翻译：

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回顾与展望：语言病理学领域学龄前自闭症干预研究的范围回顾

背景与目标

疑似或诊断为自闭症的儿童的家庭经常使用语言病理学服务。鉴于社会沟通差异是自闭症的核心特征，这是意料之中的。本综述广泛审视了语言病理学和学龄前自闭症干预领域的研究现状，以确定可用于指导语言病理学家 (SLP) 实践的研究类型，并找出差距在该领域，以便他们可以在未来的研究中得到解决。具体而言，我们检查了 SLP 对疑似或诊断为自闭症的学龄前儿童提供（至少部分）干预的研究范围，确定了研究中针对的技能发展领域的范围，并探讨了干预的特征（即,

方法

使用 Arksey 和 O'Malley 框架概述的五个阶段对 1980 年至 2019 年间发表的文章进行了范围界定审查：(a) 阐明研究问题；(b) 确定相关研究；(c) 选择研究；(d) 绘制数据图表；(e) 整理、总结和报告结果。

主要贡献/成果

共有 114 项研究符合纳入标准，其中大部分研究自 2010 年以来发表并在北美进行。个案研究或单一受试者研究设计是最常用的。仅由 SLP 提供的干预和由包括 SLP 在内的多专业团队提供的干预相对均等。在纳入的研究中，有九个技能发展领域成为目标，但针对社交沟通、语言和增强沟通技能的干预措施构成了绝大多数研究。以儿童为中心、临床医生指导和混合模式的干预措施分布相对均匀。许多研究中很少报告详细说明干预特征的明确信息（例如，治疗剂量、提供干预的临床医生的专业培训）。

结论

这篇综述表明，在过去 10 年中，至少部分由 SLP 提供的自闭症干预领域的研究显着增加。尽管如此，仍然需要进行更多研究，并提高透明度，详细说明正在调查的干预措施的性质。迄今为止进行的研究捕捉到了 SLP 在学龄前自闭症干预中的多功能性。需要改进报告和研究，采用严格的方法论，重点是捕捉干预措施的复杂性和个性化性质，干预研究与现实世界的社区实践相一致。

启示

本综述全面检查了在语言病理学领域内对疑似或确诊自闭症儿童进行学前干预的研究现状。提供了未来研究的几个方向，以及提高结果临床适用性的建议，以进一步发展有效的、循证的语言病理学政策和实践。