Otizm Spektrum Bozukluğu Olan Çocukların Eğitiminde Proje ImPACT: Sistematik Bir Derleme*

Türkçe

Introduction: Social communication is a comprehensive and complex skill domain that starts to take shape with the development of imitation, joint attention, play, and language skills in the first months of life. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can cause deficits in these basic social communication skills. Project ImPACT represents a parent-mediated naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention to ensure the development of individuals with deficits in social communication skills in this domain. The number of studies on Project ImPACT is gradually increasing, and there is a need for a review to identify the program’s place in the literature and guide future research. Accordingly, the current study systematically reviewed research on Project ImPACT. Method: This systematic review examined 18 experimental studies conducted on the Project ImPACT program between 2011 and 2024 and involving children with ASD. The findings regarding the participants and methods of the reviewed studies were compiled, and the descriptive analysis of the obtained data was performed. Findings: Most of the reviewed studies included children aged between 12 and 96 months. In most studies, mothers trained child participants, and experts from various occupational groups served as intervention agents. Research was conducted across different settings, including homes, schools, institutions, and clinics, and the program could be implemented for varying durations and intensities. Intervention agents could implement the Project ImPACT techniques in intervention sessions at a level meeting the target criteria or with high treatment fidelity, and child participants usually displayed improvement in the target basic social communication skills. Discussion: Project ImPACT is considered an effective early intervention program employed to enhance the social communication skills of children with ASD or at risk for ASD. The positive opinions of Project ImPACT users on the program are important for its dissemination. Keywords: Project ImPACT, naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions, parent-mediated intervention, early intervention, autism spectrum disorder, social communication.