Abstract
Family Implemented TEACCH for Toddlers (FITT) is a collaborative parent education and support model designed to help families better understand and engage their toddler with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Based on and adapted from the TEACCH Autism Program, FITT uses structured teaching and naturalistic strategies to facilitate toddler’s receptive and expressive communication, social communication, and play skills, as well as parent groups and parent coaching to enhance parent well- being. The blended structured teaching and naturalistic strategies used in FITT support both the development of new routines designed to enhance attention, understanding, and engagement such as table- and floor-based play sessions and generalization of skills to routines that occur across the day and home environment. Across the 6-month manualized intervention, parents identify intervention priorities, conduct informal assessments to identify toddler strengths and emerging skills, and then jointly plan the implementation of FITT strategies to target identified skills across domains and routines, while the FITT interventionist serves as a consultant and coach supporting and guiding parents. Outcomes from a randomized controlled trial of the FITT intervention included improved functioning for the toddlers with ASD, as well as reduced parent stress and improved parent well-being, indicating that FITT is a promising approach for young children with ASD and their families.
This work is funded by grant R40 MC 22648 through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Research Program and funding from Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bailey, D. B., & Wolery, M. (1984). Assessing infants and preschoolers with handicaps. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill.
Bennett, K., Reichow, B., & Wolrey, M. (2011). Effects of structured teaching on the behavior of young children with disabilities. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 26, 143–152.
Boyd, B. A. (2002). Examining the relationship between stress and lack of social support in mothers of children with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 17(4), 208–215.
Carnahan, C., Musti-Rao, S., & Bailey, J. (2009). Promoting active engagement in small group learning experiences for students with autism and significant learning needs. Education and Treatment of Children, 32, 37–61.
Dettmer, S., Simpson, R., Myles, B., & Ganz, J. (2000). The use of visual supports to facilitate transitions of students with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 15, 163–170.
Dooley, P., Wilczenski, F. L., & Torem, C. (2001). Using an activity schedule to smooth school transitions. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 3, 57–61.
Ginsburg, H. P., & Opper, S. (1988). Piaget’s theory of intellectual development (3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hill.
Hanft, B. E., & Pilkington, K. O. (2000). Therapy in natural environments: The means or end goal for early intervention? Infants and Young Children, 12(4), 1–13.
Hume, K. (2013). Visual supports (VS) fact sheet. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina, Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, The National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Hume, K., & Odom, S. (2007). Effects of an individual work system on the independent functioning of students with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 37, 1166–1180.
Hume, K., Plavnick, J., & Odom, S. (2012). Promoting task accuracy and independence in students with autism across educational setting through the use of individual work systems. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42, 2084–2099.
Hume, K., Turner-Brown, L., & Boyd, B. (2013, May). Early findings of a family focused intervention for toddlers with ASD & their caregivers. Combating Autism Act Initiative, Crystal City, VA.
Hume, K., Turner-Brown, L., Boyd, B., & Arnold, C. (2014). Supporting rural families with toddlers with ASD: Understanding family and child characteristics in an effort to develop accessible and effective intervention. Atlanta, GA: International Meeting for Autism Research.
Mandell, D. S., Morales, K. H., Xie, M., Lawer, L. J., Stahmer, A. C., & Marcus, S. C. (2010). Age of diagnosis among Medicaid-enrolled children with autism, 2001–2004. Psychiatric Services, 61(8), 822–829.
Mavropoulou, S., Papadopoulou, E., & Kakana, D. (2011). Effects of task organization on the independent play of students with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 41, 913–925.
Mesibov, G., Shea, V., & Schopler, E. (2005). The TEACCH approach to autism spectrum disorders. New York: Plenum Press.
National Standards Project by the National Autism Center’s (NSP) (2015). The National Standards Report. http://www.nationalautismcenter.org/national-standards-project/phase-2/
Nordquist, V., & Twardosz, S. (1990). Preventing behavior problems in early childhood special education classrooms through environmental organization. Education & Treatment of Children, 13, 274–287.
Ozonoff, S., & Cathcart, K. (1998). Effectiveness of a home program intervention for young children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 28(1), 25–32.
Rogers, S., & Dawson, G. (2010). Early start Denver model for young children with autism: Promoting language, learning, and engagement. New York: Guilford Press.
Rao, S., & Gagie, B. (2006). Learning through seeing and doing: Visual supports for children with autism. Teaching Exceptional Children, 38, 26–33.
Rush, D., & Sheldon, M. (2011). The early childhood coaching handbook. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.
Sandall, S. R., Hemmeter, M. L., Smith, B. J., & McLean, M. E. (2005). DEC recommended practices: A comprehensive guide for practical application in early intervention/early childhood special education. Missoula, MT: Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children.
Schopler, E., Mesibov, G., & Baker, A. (1982). Evaluation of treatment for autistic children and their parents. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 21(3), 262–267.
Schopler, E., & Reichler, R. J. (1971). Parents as cotherapists in the treatment of psychotic children. Journal of Autism and Childhood Schizophrenia, 1(1), 87–102.
Schreibman, L., Dawson, G., Stahmer, A. C., Landa, R., Rogers, S. J., McGee, G. G.,. .. Halladay, A. (2015). Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions: Empirically validated treatments for autism Spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(8), 2411–2428. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2407-8
Short, A. B. (1984). Short-term treatment outcome using parents as co-therapists for their own autistic children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 25(3), 443–458 Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6746793
Siegel, B. (1999). Autistic learning disabilities and individualized treatment for autistic spectrum disorders. Infants and Young Children, 12, 27–36.
Stahmer, A. C., Schreibman, L., & Cunningham, A. B. (2011). Toward a technology of treatment individualization for young children with autism spectrum disorders. Brain Research, 1380, 229–239.
Stahmer, A. C., & Pellecchia, M. (2015). Moving towards a more ecologically valid model of parent-implemented interventions in autism. Autism, 19(3), 259–261.
Treffert, D. A. (1970). The epidemiology of infantile autism. American Journal of Psychiatry., 22, 431–438.
Turner-Brown, L., Hume, K., Boyd, B., & Kainz, K. (2016). Preliminary efficacy ofFamily Implemented TEACCH for Toddlers: Effects on parents and their toddlers with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 1–14.
Turner-Brown, L., Hume, K., Boyd, B., Kainz, K., Jennings, S., Zheng, S., & Arnold, C. (2015). Family Implemented TEACCH for Toddlers (FITT) mitigates parent stress and improves toddler social-communication skills: Results from a small, randomized controlled trial. Salt lake City, UT: International Meeting for Autism Research.
Ulke-Kurkcuoglu, B., & Kircaali-Iftar, G. (2010). A comparison of the effects of providing activity and material choices to children with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 43, 717–721.
Welterlin, A., Turner-Brown, L. M., Harris, S., Mesibov, G., & Delmolino, L. (2012). The home TEACCHing program for toddlers with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 42(9), 1827–1835. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-011-1419-2
Wong, C., Odom, S. L., Hume, K. A., Cox, A. W., Fettig, A., Kucharczyk, S., … Schultz, T. R. (2015). Evidence-based practices for children, youth, and young adults with autism spectrum disorder: A comprehensive review. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45, 1–16.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hume, K., Turner-Brown, L. (2018). Family Implemented TEACCH for Toddlers. In: Siller, M., Morgan, L. (eds) Handbook of Parent-Implemented Interventions for Very Young Children with Autism. Autism and Child Psychopathology Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90994-3_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90994-3_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90992-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90994-3
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)