For many SLPs, one of the most persistent challenges in early intervention for autistic children is knowing where to begin.

How do we help parents recognize their child’s social communication? How do we support meaningful progress? And how do we ensure that our intervention aligns with what families truly value?

Two recent studies offer important answers to these questions by looking at The Hanen Centre’s More Than Words® Program.^1,2

Together, these studies show the importance of intervention that begins by supporting parents’ understanding and extends to supporting meaningful communication for autistic children that builds on their interests.

Study A

Study A explored the use of a More Than Words Social Communication Checklist as a tool to support parents’ understanding of their autistic child’s communication from the very beginning of intervention.¹

Using data gathered from 36 autistic preschoolers who participated in a More Than Words Program, Study A compares the Checklist to other established measures of communicative participation: the FOCUS-34 and the Communication Function Classification System (CFCS).¹ At the start of intervention, parents’ identification of their child’s abilities aligned across all measures, suggesting that the More Than Words Social Communication Checklist is a valid way to help parents understand their autistic child’s social communication before the intervention.¹

This starting point is essential for early intervention. If parents do not yet recognize how and why their child communicates, they may miss opportunities to respond to and support their child’s social communication development.¹ Recognizing the unique abilities of each child, the Social Communication Checklist helps address this gap by using clear, parent-friendly language and focusing on how and why autistic children may communicate.¹

For SLPs, the Checklist provides more than assessment data. It serves as a visual and conversational anchor that supports coaching, helping parents focus on their child’s strengths and current stage of communication from the outset. It also naturally leads to goal setting, making it clear to parents what the next steps are.  

At the end of the intervention, Study A found that 89% of children demonstrated gains in their social communication stage, as measured by the Social Communication Checklist.¹ In addition, two-thirds of children showed meaningful improvements in communicative participation based on FOCUS-34 scores.¹

Interestingly, after the intervention, the Checklist captured subtle changes in early social communication that were not always reflected in the FOCUS-34.¹ This suggests that using a combination of measures can provide a more extensive picture of autistic children’s social communication development.

Study B

Looking Beyond Skills to Participation and Relationships

Study B provides more insight into how More Than Words supports functional social communication development for autistic children and their parents.

Study B included 21 children with social communication difficulties and their parents (or other caregivers) who had participated in a More Than Words program. In qualitative interviews, parents reported improvements not only in their autistic child’s social communication, but also in their child’s ability to participate in everyday interactions. These changes made communication more meaningful within daily routines. Parents also reported changes in themselves. They described learning practical strategies to support their child’s social communication, which led to their developing greater awareness of their own interaction styles, and gaining confidence in their ability to help their child.

These outcomes reflect a shift toward the “Activity” and “Participation” domains of the ICF framework, emphasizing autistic children’s strengths in real-life contexts, rather than focusing on isolated skills.

What This Means for Your Practice

Parents want to understand their child, connect with them, and support their participation in daily life. Here are three ways to support families of young autistic children:

1. Help parents recognize what their child can do
   From the beginning of the intervention, guide parents to understand their child’s strengths, including how and why their child communicates

2. Focus on everyday interactions
   Coach parents to embed communication opportunities into daily routines like meals, play, and getting dressed. Small changes in parents’ behaviour, such as waiting (without speaking) for their child to communicate and then responding promptly and with interest can create many more chances for meaningful interaction throughout the day.

3. Build confidence through reflection and support
   Engage parents in discussions about what’s working and what they find challenging. Parents’ learning is not linear, and ongoing discussions in which they are encouraged to speak openly, self-reflect and ask questions are important in the process of supporting changes they are making to the way they interact with their child.

Interested in enhancing your coaching for families of young autistic children?

• Learn more about the workshop training for More Than Words that enables you to use resources like the Social Communication Checklist with the families on your caseload
• Visit our Autism page, with links to more research behind and supporting More than Words
• Check out the More Than Words parent guidebook, for more information about helping parents build their autistic child’s communication skills