SynthesisJournal of autism and developmental disorders2025
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.
Synthesis in Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Interventions to Promote Communication in Minimally Verbal Autistic Children: A Systematic Review.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Development of FamTAM Intervention for Speech and Language Pathologists and Family Members.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Adapting NDBIs for Autistic Children Who Use Echolalia: A Cascading Coaching Approach to Supporting Communication and Language Development.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Caregiver-Implemented Lower-Intensity EMT en Español Para Autismo: A Single Case Design Study.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Play-Based Naturalistic Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) Intervention: Educator Fidelity and Effects on Communication and Peer Interactions.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Communication Research Priorities for Autism Research: Insights from a Caregiver Survey.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Beyond behavior: a neurocognitive agenda for investigating the neural underpinnings of successful high-technology augmentative and alternative communication in adults.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Article
- One Size Doesn't Fit All: Variability in Autistic Children's Response to Pivotal Response Treatment.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Multimodal Communication Outcomes for Hispanic Autistic Preschoolers Following Coached Student Clinician and Caregiver-Led NDBIs.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Coaching Bilingual Speech-Language Student Clinicians and Spanish-Speaking Caregivers to Use Culturally Adapted NDBI Techniques with Autistic Preschoolers.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- External challenges for individuals who need or use AAC who are learning language: lived experiences, key research findings, and future directions.Augmentative and alternative communication (Baltimore, Md. : 1985) · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Both naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBIs) and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) have been shown to support the language development of children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and minimal speech. However, little research has addressed the impact of incorporating AAC systems within NDBIs. This systematic review was conducted to assess the relative impact of NDBI procedures with and without AAC on the language development of children on the autism spectrum with minimal speech. Relevant studies were located through systematic database searching, targeted review of relevant journals, and ancestral search of references from identified and associated papers. Relevant study characteristics were coded for all included studies, as well as determining certainty of evidence and calculating effect sizes for language variables. All procedures followed the systematic review guidelines set by the Cochrane Collaboration. A total of 29 relevant studies were included within this review, covering both single-case and group design research. Three studies were identified that directly compared NDBI and AAC interventions. NDBIs had a strong impact on language across study types (i.e., with and without AAC), though both aggregate and comparative effect sizes were notably larger when AAC was included within NDBI procedures, as compared to NDBIs without AAC. Results suggest that combining AAC with NDBI procedures may lead to better language outcomes than NDBIs alone for children on the autism spectrum with minimal speech.
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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.