Assessment of Intervention Outcomes of Minimally Verbal Autistic Children: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract Minimally verbal autistic children, or those who use fewer than 20 words, represent ~30% of the autistic population and are at heightened risk for adverse outcomes in socialization, academics, independent living, and employment. While it is known that intensive intervention can enhance the communication skills of minimally verbal autistic children, this population remains significantly underrepresented in research. Standardized measures are commonly used to assess outcomes in this population, but when floor‐level scores are obtained, capturing intervention‐related changes can be difficult. The present study evaluated outcomes of a clinical program using both standardized and non‐standardized measures to assess progress of a sample of minimally verbal autistic children. Results indicated standard scores remained very low following intervention; however, further analyses with raw scores, Growth Scale Values, and non‐standardized measures indicated statistically and socially significant improvement.