Amy C. Laurent

The SCERTS Model A Transactional, Family-Centered Approach to Enhancing Communication and Socioemotional Abilities of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

A range of educational/treatment approaches is currently available for young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A recent comprehensive review by an expert panel on ASD (National Research Council, 2001) concluded that a number of approaches have demonstrated positive outcomes, but nonetheless, not all children benefit equally from any one approach. Efforts to increase communicative and socioemotional abilities are widely regarded as among the most critical priorities, and growth in these areas is closely related to prognosis and long-term positive outcomes. However, some widely disseminated approaches are not based on the most contemporary developmental research on social and communication development in children with and without disabilities, nor do they draw from current understanding of the learning style of children with ASD. This article describes the SCERTS Model, which prioritizes Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, and Transactional Support as the primary developmental dimensions that must be addressed in a comprehensive program designed to support the development of young children with ASD and their families. The SCERTS Model has been derived from a theoretical as well as empirically based foundation and addresses core challenges of children with ASD as they relate to social communication, emotional regulation, and transactional support. The SCERTS Model also is consistent with empirically supported interventions and it reflects current and emerging “recommended practices” (National Research Council, 2001).

Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, and Transactional Support (SCERTS)

Educational programming for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) can be described at two different levels: focused approaches and comprehensive approaches. Focused approaches utilize evidence-based strategies directed at particular symptoms. These evidence-based strategies are indeed essential for supporting individuals with ASD in relation to particular areas of need. In contrast, a comprehensive approach provides a framework that is broad in scope and is designed to improve overall functioning and to produce positive long-term outcomes in adulthood. The SCERTS® Model is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary educational approach that was developed to maximize long-term positive outcomes for individuals with ASD and their families while embracing a wide range of more focused evidence-based interventions (Prizant et al. 2006 ).

Supporting Parents to Promote Emotion Regulation Abilities in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A SCERTS Model Perspective

Emotional regulation is a key developmental capacity concerned with the regulation of physiological arousal, emotion, and attention. Effective emotional regulation is associated with social success, academic readiness, and pro-social behaviors. Young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have documented emotional regulatory challenges. These difficulties include challenges in managing emotions, focusing attention, inhibiting reactions, delaying gratification, and seeking comfort in conventional ways. Some of these difficulties are associated with neurological differences and cognitive learning style differences, which are associated with an ASD diagnosis. Other challenges may be associated with ASD-related social learning differences, which impact the nature and effectiveness of parent/child interactions that are geared toward expanding a young child’s emotional regulatory abilities. An emotional regulation approach to intervention represents a relatively new focus in intervention for young children diagnosed with ASD and holds the promise of supporting active engagement in everyday activities resulting in more emotionally satisfying social interactions between children and their caregivers. A brief framework for assessment of young children’s emotional regulatory abilities and selection of developmentally appropriate emotional regulatory objectives utilizing the SCERTS® Model is presented. Parent coaching, embedding teaching opportunities within natural routines, and modeling are discussed as developmentally appropriate intervention techniques for young children at presymbolic and symbolic levels of communication.

Development of Emotion Self-Regulation Among Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Role of Parents

Emotional self-regulation (ESR) challenges are well-documented in the diagnostic profiles of children with Autism; however, less is known about the development of ESR and the role of parents in ESR development for this population. Thirty-seven young children with autism and one of their parents participated in a home-based, observational study exploring the associations between the children’s social communication and sensory processing characteristics and their parents’ behaviors associated with ESR development. Findings revealed that parent use of physical and language behaviors were associated with child social communication abilities. No associations between child sensory processing and parent behaviors were found. Understanding the interactive processes between parents and children with ASD has implications for the development of parent-based interventions that increase child ESR.