Parents of children at risk of ASD reported significantly greater reductions in autism symptoms and improved empathy after First Step, with non-significant medium effects on communication and cooperation¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2015 · checked against its sources 2026-11-02 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 Parent-reported SSiS Autism subscale reductions (Hedges' g = -.77) and Empathy improvements (g = .57) were significant; Communication and Cooperation effects (both g = .52) were non-significant but in the medium range. → Frey 2015

Evidence¶

Frey 2015¶

Frey, A. J., Small, J. W., Feil, E. G., Seeley, J. R., Walker, H. M., & Forness, S. (2015). First Step to Success: Applications to Preschoolers at Risk of Developing Autism Spectrum Disorders. Education and Training in Autism and Developmental Disabilities, 50(4), 397–407. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1082560

q3 · i2 · causal · r2

Parent-reported outcomes from the covariate-adjusted regression models in the randomized subsample of 34 children at risk for ASD. The article states that although non-significant, "effect sizes were also in the medium range" for Communication (g = .52) and Cooperation (g = .52).

"Parents of children in the intervention condi- tion reported significantly greater reductions on the SSiS Autism subscale (Hedges' g /H11005/H11002.77) and significant improvements on the SSiS Em- pathy subscale (Hedges'g /H11005.57) as compared to the control group."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Autism Spectrum Disorder — outcome: instruction changes it
• Learning Disabilities and Developmental Differences — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• The ASD-risk subsample differed from the non-identified sample on all parent-reported baseline outcomes but on only one teacher-reported measure (SSiS Empathy) — related
• Parents of children at risk for ASD reported significantly greater reductions in autism symptoms and gains in empathy after First Step, with medium-to-large but non-significant effects on communication and cooperation — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• In a responder analysis, 38% of intervention versus 7% of control children recovered or improved on parent-reported autism symptoms, a non-significant difference — related
• Preschool First Step reduced teacher-reported ASD symptoms and problem behaviors in children at risk for ASD, with Hedges' g from -0.65 to -1.12 — related