Guiding principles and research priorities for early childhood autism therapy research: Results of a community-engaged project

Many autistic adults report negative long-lasting consequences of their early childhood therapy experiences, and caregivers of young autistic children report that these services do not meet their child’s needs. Additionally, therapies in research contexts will often be implemented in family-centered programs such as Early Intervention (EI), but the child-focused nature of current therapies fail to help caregivers understand and support their child. This demonstrates the misalignment of autism therapy research with the goals of autistic people and caregivers, and the contextual demands of EI. This manuscript reports the outputs of a collaborative project in which 17 autistic adults, autistic caregivers, and non-autistic caregivers of autistic children developed research priorities and guiding principles for future early childhood autism research. These principles and priorities will provide a foundation for autism researchers to develop therapies and supports that are aligned with community needs and priorities, resulting in more equitable and effective practices for the diverse families served through EI and other early childhood therapy programs. The full list of principles and priorities may be viewed at https://www.eicollab.northwestern.edu/research-priorities/.