Preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders: evaluating the impact of a home‐based intervention to promote their communication

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McConkey, R., Truesdale‐Kennedy, M., Crawford, H., McGreevy, E., Reavey, M., & Cassidy, A. (2008). Preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders: evaluating the impact of a home‐based intervention to promote their communication. Early Child Development and Care, 180(3), 299-315. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430801899187

Publication date: 12 May 2008 Added to AutiHub: 13 Oct 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
6
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 6 (16.7%)
  1. Roy McConkey
  2. Maria Truesdale‐Kennedy
  3. Heather Crawford
  1. Elaine McGreevy *
  2. Michaela Reavey
  3. Arlene Cassidy

Abstract

The complexities that practitioners face in evaluating interventions are illustrated in this article. An early intervention programme (known as Keyhole), based mainly around Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communications handicapped CHildren (TEACCH), Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and Hanen approaches, was delivered to 35 families through 15–18 home visits over a nine‐month period. In addition, 26 families acted as a contrast group. A range of measures were used on a pre–post basis along with qualitative data from participants. The children as a whole showed significant improvements on different indices of communication and these were greater than those reported in the contrast group. Mothers too improved on measures of health but not of stress. These findings add to the accumulating evidence that family‐delivered, communication‐based interventions are effective. Lesson for service‐based evaluations are drawn; in particular the reasons for the individual variation in children’s and parental responses require closer investigation.

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 17 Oct 2026 01:01.

Cited references
46
With a DOI
31
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
12
0 / 46 (0.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
5 / 46 (10.9%)
References with detected author names
45 / 46 (97.8%)
Without detected author names
1
Without a structured title
4
Without a stable identifier
12
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
97
From DOI or external metadata
97
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
13 / 97 (13.4%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 84 / 97 (86.6%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
0 / 97 (0.0%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 0 / 13 (0.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 0 / 89 (0.0%).
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