Project Sibling Integration in Building Skills (SIBS) : a replication study investigating the efficacy of low-intensity, role-play-based training in a sibling-mediated intervention

Collaborative intervention practices involving family members have become a common tool for addressing social communication deficits in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Sibling-mediated interventions represent an underutilized collaborative model despite the unique role of typically-developing siblings in the lives of children with ASD. Barriers to widespread utilization include logistical challenges for already-burdened families of children with ASD, as well as the need to protect siblings’ psychological well-being. The present study is a replication and extension of a previous sibling-mediated intervention study (Walton & Ingersoll, 2012) to determine whether using low-intensity, role-play-based training conducted in the absence of the child with ASD is an effective strategy to address these barriers. Three typically-developing siblings (ages 6-8) of children with ASD were recruited through a local ASD support group. Siblings successfully learned to use naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention strategies during role-play with an adult over the course of four one-hour, once weekly sessions. Play probes with their brother or sister with ASD (ages 5-10) suggest limited generalization of imitation and language modeling strategy use; however, siblings did not use the more complex imitation training procedure. Ratings by naïve observers supported the social validity of changes in play interactions. Participating siblings and parents rated participation in the program positively.Communication Sciences and Disorder