What is it about?
Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions (NDBIs) teach young autistic children through play and everyday routines. This study interviewed five certified Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) specialists in Riyadh and Jeddah about how they understand and use NDBIs, why they adopt them, and what makes them hard to implement.
Featured Image
Photo by Artem Kniaz on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Specialists reported barriers including insufficient training, limited administrative support, logistical challenges and family-related constraints. The study recommends more practical training for specialists, wider community awareness of NDBIs and ongoing supervision by experienced professionals, and calls for more research on these interventions in Arab settings to improve early intervention for autistic children.
Perspectives
Naturalistic, play-based approaches hold great promise for young autistic children. I hope this study helps strengthen the training and supervision of specialists so that these interventions can be delivered well in Saudi Arabia and other Arab settings.
Prof Nizar H Bagadood
Umm Al-Qura University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A qualitative study on the effectiveness of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions for children with autism Spectrum disorder in Saudi Arabia, Acta Psychologica, November 2025, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2025.105968.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
