Caregiver perceptions and use of ECI-A (Steinbrenner et al., 2025)

Purpose: This study aims to examine caregiver perceptions and use of the Early Communication Indicator–Autism (ECI-A), an adapted, naturalistic assessment to measure progress on communication skills, and explore differences across racial and ethnic groups to provide preliminary data about the cultural responsiveness of the newly adapted ECI-A.

Method: A total of 215 caregivers and their autistic child completed the ECI-A. The research team collected data on caregiver- and researcher-reported ease of use of the ECI-A and caregiver ECI-A fidelity. Descriptive statistics are reported across racial and ethnic groups, and group differences are examined between groups with sufficient sample size (Black and White caregivers, Latino and non-Latino caregivers).

Results: Overall, there was consistency in caregiver and researcher perceptions of ease of use and caregiver fidelity. The only statistically significant differences were for researcher-reported ease of use between Black and White caregivers and ECI-A fidelity for general procedures between Latino and non-Latino caregivers.

Conclusions: The results suggest that the ECI-A is acceptable and feasible for use by caregivers from a range of racial and ethnic backgrounds. However, the two statistically significant differences suggest the need for careful attention to researcher biases for researcher-completed measures and more in-depth evaluation of the cultural responsiveness of the general ECI-A procedures, such as the number of play partners involved. It will be critical to continue work that informs and advances the use of culturally responsive assessment practices with autistic children and their families in the future.

Supplemental Material S1. ECI-A procedures.

Supplemental Material S2. ECI-A fidelity of administration tool.

Steinbrenner, J. R., Jenkins, K. C., Nowell, S. W., Wilkinson, B., Salley, B., Buzhardt, J., & Boyd, B. A. (2025). Caregiver perceptions and use of the Early Communication Indicator–Autism: Examining differences among demographic groups. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_PERSP-24-00136

Publisher Note: This article is part of the Forum: Intersectional Approaches to Language in Autism.