Cooperative Parent-Mediated Therapy in Children with Fragile X Syndrome and Williams Beuren Syndrome: A Pilot RCT Study of a Transdiagnostic Intervention-Preliminary Data

Abstract

Children with fragile X syndrome and William Beuren syndrome share several socio-communicative deficits. In both populations, around 30/35% of individuals meets criteria for autism spectrum disorder on gold standard instruments. Notwithstanding, few studies have explored feasibility and validity of therapy for socio-communicative deficits in individuals with these genetic conditions. In this study, we present preliminary data on a pilot RCT aimed to verify the effectiveness of cooperative parent-mediated therapy for socio-communicative deficits in a transdiagnostic perspective in a small sample of 12 participants. Our preliminary data showed that the experimental group had significant improvement in one socio-communicative skill (responsivity) and in clinical global impression, while the control group in an adaptive measure of socialization and word production. Implications of these results are then discussed.

Communication in fragile X syndrome: Patterns and implications for assessment and intervention

“…There is growing research indicating that increased caregiver responsivity with young children is highly predictive of later language ability in FXS (Brady et al, 2014(Brady et al, , 2020. There has also been some research as to how a parent-mediated intervention can increase social responsivity in children with FXS (Alfieri et al, 2021). This means that caregivers should be actively involved in treatment and clinicians should pay particular attention to fostering more responsive interactions.…”