The READ-IT study protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial of using a support worker/family carer mediated online reading programme to teach early reading skills to adults with intellectual disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Many individuals with intellectual disability (ID) have not learnt basic reading skills by the time that they reach adulthood, potentially limiting their access to critical information. READ-IT is an online reading programme developed from the Headsprout® Early Reading (HER®) intervention and supplemented by support strategies tailored for adults with ID. HER® has been successfully used to teach adults with ID to read in a forensic setting by trained staff. The aim of this study is to assess the feasibility of delivering READ-IT to adults with ID by family carers/support workers and will assess whether it would be feasible to conduct a later definitive randomised controlled trial (RCT) of the effectiveness of the programme. The study will aim to contribute to the evidence base on improving outcomes for adults with ID and their caregivers. METHODS: This study is a feasibility RCT, with embedded process evaluation. Forty-eight adults with ID will be recruited and allocated to intervention: control on a 1:1 basis. Intervention families will be offered the READ-IT programme immediately, continuing to receive usual practice and control participants will be offered the opportunity to receive READ-IT at the end of the trial follow-up period and will continue to receive usual practice. Data will be collected at baseline and 6 months post-randomisation. DISCUSSION: The results of this study will inform a potential future definitive trial, to evaluate the effectiveness of READ-IT to improve reading skills. Such a trial would have significant scientific impact internationally in the intellectual disability field. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN11409097.

Common approaches to intervention for the support and education of children with autism in the UK: an internet-based parent survey.

There is a distinct lack of research identifying the interventions used by parents for the support and education of children with autism in the UK. This internet-based survey is the first to report exclusively on data from a UK sample of 160 parents. We sought to identify and describe the interventions used currently and in the past, and explored associations between parent and child characteristics and interventions used. We found that visual schedules, speech and language therapy, and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) were currently most in use, and that the majority of parents reported using more than one intervention concurrently. Younger children were more likely to be currently using at least one intervention, and current use of ABA was found to be associated with higher parental educational level. The findings highlight the need for further research into the factors that underlie decision-making in respect to interventions used.

Cognitive and adaptive behavior outcomes of behavioral intervention for young children with intellectual disability.

Data from Norway were analyzed to evaluate early behavioral intervention for children with intellectual disabilities. The intervention group (n = 11) received approximately 10 hours per week of behavioral intervention; the eclectic comparison group (n = 14) received treatment as usual. After 1 year, changes in intelligence and adaptive behavior scores were statistically significant in favor of the behavioral intervention group (effect sizes of 1.13 for Intelligence quotient (IQ) change and .95 for change in adaptive behavior composite). Approximately 64% of the children in the behavioral intervention group met objective criteria for reliable change in IQ, whereas 14% in the eclectic comparison group did so. These results suggest that children with intellectual disability may profit from behavioral intervention typically provided for children with autism.