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Interventions for Children with Autism Mediated by Someone Other Than a Highly Qualified Autism Professional: An Umbrella Review

  • Author / Creator
    Gange, Elizabeth
  • Aim: There has been a recent explosion in research, including systematic reviews, examining the effects of interventions for children with ASD. The present umbrella review collected, appraised, and summarized evidence from multiple systematic reviews of interventions for children with ASD mediated by someone other than a highly-qualified autism professional. Specifically, the clinical findings and methodological quality of these reviews is considered. Method: Systematic reviews were identified through comprehensive searches of 24 electronic databases from January 2006 to April 2016. Studies included were systematic reviews of interventions for children with ASD mediated by someone other than a highly-qualified autism professional. Two reviewers independently assessed study relevance and quality. Results: Sixteen systematic reviews of psychosocial interventions for children with ASD mediated by someone other than a highly-qualified autism professional were included. The interventions were divided into four categories: interventions mediated by parents, interventions mediated by siblings, interventions mediated by peers, and interventions mediated by other non-specialists. Overall, these interventions were related to positive outcomes for children with ASD. Reviews varied in terms of methodological quality but were generally of relatively poor quality. Interpretation: These interventions were generally associated with positive outcomes for children with ASD. However, the low methodological quality of many of these reviews threatens the validity and reliability of these findings. This evidence should be considered tentative until it has been confirmed by additional high-quality systematic reviews.

  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Graduation date
    Fall 2017
  • Type of Item
    Thesis
  • Degree
    Master of Education
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/R35D8NV14
  • License
    This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.