Date Presented 03/29/20 We present on a research project that used telehealth to support parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to toilet train their children. Among n=15 children with ASD, results of the 12-week intervention showed significant gains in goal attainment scaling, the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, and the Toileting Behavior Questionnaire. Children with ASD benefit from an OT telehealth intervention to increase this essential adaptive behavior. Primary Author and Speaker: Lauren Little Additional Authors and Speakers: Anna Wallisch, Winnie Dunn, Scott Tomchek

Date Presented 03/27/20 Children with ASD often exhibit challenging eating behaviors that lead to later health consequences. We used medical records to examine how behavioral parent concerns and behavioral symptoms are linked to picky eating in ASD. Our findings point to distinct behaviors associated with picky eating. Primary Author and Speaker: Anna Wallisch Additional Authors and Speakers: Sallie Nowell, Lauren Little

Date Presented 04/04/19 Disparities exist in the early identification of underserved children with ASD. Our study used a large university sample to examine subtypes of children with an eventual ASD diagnosis based on parent concerns and sociodemographics. Results suggest that children with speech parent concerns are most likely identified earlier, regardless of race, ethnicity, or SES. However, our findings point to the difficulty in identifying girls with ASD and children with social and behavior parent concerns. Primary Author and Speaker: Anna Wallisch Contributing Authors: Lauren Little, Evan Dean, Winnie Dunn

Date Presented 4/21/2018 Occupational therapy delivered via telehealth is an innovative service delivery model. Our study indicates telehealth was highly acceptable to families of children with autism spectrum disorder. Telehealth resulted in cost savings for both therapists and families compared with traditional service delivery models. Primary Author and Speaker: Anna Wallisch Additional Authors and Speakers: Ellen Pope, Lauren Little, Winnie Dunn

Natural contexts and family involvement are key features of effective intervention approaches. However, the measurement of community participation and parent engagement with children remains complex. Therefore, we examined the feasibility of combining use of the Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA^®) system and a global positioning system (GPS; i.e., Qstarz^® BT-Q1000XT). The LENA is a small speech recognition device that captures and quantifies full-day recordings of the natural language environment. The Qstarz BT-Q1000XT is a wearable GPS data logger that allows identification of the locations a person visits. The marrying of these measures allows for an accurate representation of community settings that afford children greater social communication opportunities. Our results show that the combination of measures provides meaningful social communication location data. Also, the participating caregiver reported that the collection of measures was feasible across community settings.

OBJECTIVE. We investigated the efficacy of Occupation-Based Coaching delivered via telehealth for families of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHOD. Participants were 18 families of children with ASD ages 2–6 yr. We used descriptive statistics to understand intervention characteristics and paired-sample t tests to examine changes in parent efficacy and child participation. RESULTS. Parents identified many areas of child adaptive behavior as intervention goals. Results showed that parent efficacy and various domains of child participation significantly increased postintervention (both ps < .05). Additionally, children showed significant gains in parent-identified goals. CONCLUSION. Occupation-Based Coaching delivered via telehealth appears to be an effective method of intervention to increase parent efficacy and child participation among families of children with ASD. Occupational therapists may consider how telehealth may be used to provide intervention to an increased number of families, in particular those in underserved areas.

Date Presented 4/8/2016 Parents of children who are eventually diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have concerns about their child’s development prior to diagnosis, but we are unaware of any differences in the concerns of parents of children eventually diagnosed with ASD versus parents of children that do not receive a diagnosis. We evaluated 1,250 parent concerns in a community-based sample. Primary Author and Speaker: Anna Wallisch Additional Authors and Speakers: Scott Tomchek, Lauren Little Contributing Authors: Lauren Little, Scott Tomchek

Date Presented 4/7/2016 Occupational therapy possesses complementary ideologies similar to community-based settings, yet the profession is not well recognized within community practice. Our study indicates the value of occupational therapy and the multiple roles occupational therapists may serve in community-based settings serving adults with disabilities. Primary Author and Speaker: Anna Wallisch Additional Author and Speaker: Evan Dean

Date Presented 4/7/2016 This study is testing the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a 12-wk coaching intervention for families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) delivered via telehealth. Findings from this study will inform how occupational therapists may use telehealth to expand service delivery for families of children with ASD. Primary Author and Speaker: Lauren Little Additional Authors and Speakers: Winnie Dunn, Ellen Pope, Anna Wallisch