Funding outcome

Autism can shape early childhood development through differences in social and communication behaviours of children, with parents and caregivers often being the first to notice early signs of autism. They hold important insights into their child's early growth and development and may report more subtle growth in behaviours and adaptive skills which can be difficult for clinicians to capture during brief, time-limited assessments. As early as 12 and 18 months of age, disagreements between clinician and caregiver reports of social communication behaviours of infants have been observed. Additionally, the effect of length of pregnancy on service intervention outcomes, including caregiver and clinician reports of social and communicational changes, remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to investigate how length of pregnancy can influence the impact of service interventions on social and communicational behaviour outcomes in children with autism, and changes in the outcomes as observed by caregivers and clinicians over time. Collecting the diverse perspectives of both clinicians and caregivers is essential as they capture different aspects of the child's strengths, needs, and developmental trajectory. This will be explored through analysis of the Pathways in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Study data, a longitudinal study that followed autistic children across various sites in Canada from diagnosis until adulthood. As such, by exploring the influence of length of pregnancy on social outcomes before and following service interventions, while incorporating the diverse perspectives of key players in children's lives, we can then understand how they can be integrated to provide a more comprehensive understanding of social communication and language growth in children with autism over time.