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20 December 2025

Effectiveness of An Early Intervention Model for Children with Autism and Family Outcomes: A Repeated Measurement Study

Qinghua Li1 ,  Chang Liu1 ,  Tingting Zhang1 ,  Zhiguo Hu2 ,  Yingshuang Jiang3 ,  Songtian Zeng4*
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1 Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Development and Education for Special Needs Children, Lingnan Normal University, Zhanjiang 524048, PR China
2 Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang,311121, China
3 Shenzhen Fumi Health Technology Co Ltd, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518052, China
4 University of Washington, Seattle, Washington,98195, USA
APM 2025 , 10(4), 261–268; https://doi.org/10.18063/APM.v10i4.1057
© 2025 by the Author. Licensee Whioce Publishing, Singapore. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

The study examined evaluated the effects of an early intervention model based on the principles of Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) on young children with autism spectrum disorder (autism) and family outcomes in China. The sample (n = 60) mean age was 4.8 years old (SD = 1.1) in the study. Children in the treatment group received the culturally adapted intervention 3 hours per day, 15 hours per week. Children in the control group received publicly funded intervention services for 3 hours per day, 15 hours per week, for a total of 8 weeks. Findings showed a decrease in autism symptoms and improved severity categorization for children in the intervention group. Also, there were positive changes in the treatment group’s parental stress and anxiety levels. Discussion and implications for culturally responsive early intervention are discussed.

Keywords
Autism
Early intervention
Culturally responsive
Funding
“Pioneer” and “Leading Goose” R&D Program of Zhejiang (Project No.: 2023C03002)
ABC Impact Guangdong Provincial General Colleges and Universities Characteristic Innovation Project (Project No.: 2024KTSCX081)
Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Innovation Strategy Special Climbing Program (Project No.: pdjh2024b241)
Guangdong Provincial Undergraduate Colleges and Universities Teaching Quality and Teaching Reform Project (Project No.: [2023]10)
Guangdong Provincial Overseas Master Program(Project No.: 2024)
References

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