Queensland's most experienced provider of specialised education and therapy services for individuals on the autism spectrum.

ENACT: Environmental Enrichment for infants: parenting with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Participants Required

We are looking to recruit pregnant women who have an older child diagnosed with ASD or either parent is diagnosed with ASD.  This is so that the intervention can commence antenatally or very early in the neonatal period.

For participants to be included in this study they must meet the following inclusion criteria:

  • The infant’s mother must agree to the assessment requirements of the study;
  • The infant must have one or more biological siblings diagnosed with ASD, or a biological parent (mother or father) diagnosed with ASD; and
  • As ENACT uses integrated web-based delivery, parents are required to have reliable internet access at home (e.g. ADSL) and must be committed to maintaining internet access for the duration of the study.

The study will exclude potential participants in the case of:

  • The parents having insufficient English to complete the assessment requirements; or
  • Families who identify at recruitment that they are unwilling to return for the outcome assessments at 6 months and 12 months of age.
  • Infants with a known chromosomal or neurological condition prior to study enrolment
Description of Project

Infant siblings of older children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are at an increased risk of a diagnosis of ASD. From 6-12 months of age there are prodromal symptoms of ASD in the domains of motor skills, motor planning, visual attention, visual perception and affect regulation. This can impact on parent-infant interaction and language, social and cognitive development. In addition, mothers of infants at risk of ASD are at risk of poorer mental health when compared to the general population due to the complexity of managing ASD.

Currently, there are no trials that have been conducted with infants at risk of ASD younger than six months of age. The aim of this research is to test the efficacy of an innovative early intervention, ENACT, for families of infants at risk of ASD through a randomised controlled trial with ENACT compared to care as usual, and testing the effect of the intervention in improving the parent-child relationship and infant developmental outcomes.

Benefits to Participants

There are currently no evidence-based interventions available to parent of infants younger than 6 months of age who are at risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Families who are randomised to the intervention group will get early access to a novel intervention program that aims to enrich the life of their family. Parents will also play a role in refining the content of the program. All families will get comprehensive developmental assessments at the conclusion of the study, when their baby is 12 months old.  Families will receive a copy of this report.

Contact Details

Kavindri Kulasinghe or Dr Andrea McGlade 
P. 07 3069 7547
E. enact.qcprrc@uq.edu.au
w. https://qcprrc.centre.uq.edu.au/project/enact