10-Year Outcome of Community-based Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention for Autistic Children.

Despite the pervasive inclusion of children with autism in early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI), there is limited research on the long-term outcomes in this population. A previous prospective study tested predictors of developmental outcome after 12 months of community-based EIBI in 71, preschool-aged autistic children. We conducted a 10-year follow up of the children enrolled in this EIBI study, as well as a comparison group of age-matched children who received community treatment as usual (CTAU). In total, 62 participants (34 EIBI and 28 CTAU) participated in a cross-sectional, follow-up assessment. Data were collected on diagnosis, cognitive functioning, adaptive skills, educational and language achievement, social functioning, and an overall global assessment of functioning. For the follow-up cohort, group differences favored CTAU on measures of cognitive, adaptive, and language functioning, as well as overall clinical severity. Group differences were no longer significant when controlling for baseline IQ score. Both variables identified in the original study predicted outcome; social engagement predicted higher cognitive/ adaptive skills and lower autism symptomatology/ clinical severity, and sensorimotor predicted lower cognitive/ adaptive skills and higher autism symptomatology/ clinical severity. Findings are contextualized in light of our evolving understanding of autism, neurodiversity, and the perspective of lived experience.