SynthesisJournal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR2020
Intervention Effects on Language in Children With Autism: A Project AIM Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
48 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 97 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Inclusion of Fathers in Parent Coaching Interventions for Young Autistic Children: A Systematic Review.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Pooled it
- Predicting early intervention outcomes in autism via individual participant data mega-analysis.Molecular autism · 2026Pooled it
- The Influence of Language and Cognition on Intervention Effects in Young Autistic Children: A Meta-Regression Analysis.Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR · 2026Pooled it
- The Effect of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions and Aided AAC on the Language Development of Children on the Autism Spectrum with Minimal Speech: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Parent-Implemented Interventions on Outcomes of Children with Autism: A Meta-Analysis.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2023Pooled it
- Efficacy of very early interventions on neurodevelopmental outcomes for infants and toddlers at increased likelihood of or diagnosed with autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2023Pooled it
- Comprehensive ABA-based interventions in the treatment of children with autism spectrum disorder - a meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Responsivity Intervention Strategies on Prelinguistic and Language Outcomes for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Group and Single Case Studies.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2022Pooled it
- Understanding the Effects of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions: A Project AIM Meta-analysis.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2021Pooled it
- Characterizing mechanisms of caregiver-mediated naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions for autistic toddlers: A randomized clinical trial.Autism : the international journal of research and practice · 2024Trial
- A Randomized Controlled Trial for Audiovisual Multisensory Perception in Autistic Youth.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2023Trial
- Reexamining Pathways Early Autism Intervention in Children Before and After the Third Birthday: A Randomized Control Trial.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2023Trial
- Enhancing Attention and Executive Function in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a 12-Week Multimodal Art Intervention.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Expressive Vocabulary in Mandarin-Speaking Autistic, Developmentally Delayed, and Typically Developing Children: A Cross-sectional Study.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Development and Psychometric Validation of the Questionnaire for Social Communication in Young Autistic Learners (Q-SoCiAL)-Verbal Version.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Advances in supporting development in autistic children and youth.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2026Review
- Review
- Language interventions for autistic people: An online survey of community member views and priorities.JCPP advances · 2026Article
- Autism and Communication Skills: Perspectives of Special Education Teachers in Saudi Arabia.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
- Age-Specific Patterns in Utilization and Costs of Developmental Rehabilitation Therapy for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder in South Korea: A Cross-Sectional Survey.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Purpose This study synthesized effects of interventions on language outcomes of young children (ages 0-8 years) with autism and evaluated the extent to which summary effects varied by intervention, participant, and outcome characteristics. Method A subset of effect sizes gathered for a larger meta-analysis (the Autism Intervention Meta-analysis or Project AIM) examining the effects of interventions for young children with autism, which were specific to language outcomes, was analyzed. Robust variance estimation and metaregression were used to calculate summary and moderated effects while controlling for intercorrelation among outcomes within studies. Results A total of 221 outcomes were gathered from 60 studies. The summary effect of intervention on language outcomes was small but significant. Summary effects were larger for expressive and composite language outcomes compared to receptive language outcomes. Interventions implemented by clinicians, or by clinicians and caregivers together, had summary effects that were significantly larger than interventions implemented by caregivers alone. Participants' pretreatment language age equivalent scores positively and significantly moderated intervention effects, such that effects were significantly larger on average when samples of children had higher pretreatment language levels. Effects were not moderated by cumulative intervention intensity, intervention type, autism symptomatology, chronological age, or the proximity or boundedness of outcomes. Study quality concerns were apparent for a majority of included outcomes. Conclusions We found evidence that intervention can facilitate improvements in language outcomes for young children with autism. Effects were largest for expressive and composite language outcomes, for children with initially higher language abilities, and for interventions implemented by clinicians or by caregivers and clinicians combined. However, quality concerns of included studies and borderline significance of some results temper our conclusions regarding intervention effectiveness and corresponding moderators.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.