Project Overview
This 4-year, multi-site project will involve approximately 75 classrooms evenly distributed across TEACCH, LEAP, and control classrooms serving preschool-aged children with autism. The geographic sites involved in this project are the states of North Carolina (primary site), Colorado, Florida, and Minnesota.
- Year 1 activities primarily involve identifying high-quality TEACCH and LEAP preschool classrooms to participate in the project, and collecting psychometric data on the fidelity measures that will be used to assess teacher’s implementation of TEACCH and LEAP classroom practices in Years 2 through 4.
- Years 2 through 4 will involve the collection of child and family outcome data:
- Data will be collected at the beginning of the school year (pre-treatment), end of the school year (post-treatment), and at a 6-month time point from post-treatment
- A combination of direct child assessments, teacher and parent questionnaires, and direct
behavioral observation will be used to evaluate efficacy of the classroom models.
- The measures fall into the following categories: measures to assess Neuropsychological or Cognitive abilities, measures to assess Core Features of Autism, measures to assess Associated or Secondary Characteristics of Autism, and measures to assess Family Functioning
