“He is trying his best to get his voice out”: A case study exploring the impact of Attention Autism for supporting development in communication and engagement amongst Autistic Pre-School Children within a Special School Setting.

Attention Autism (AA) is an increasingly widely used programme in Ireland and the UK designed to support language and communication development. However, the existing literature on AA remains limited. This mixed methods exploratory case study aimed to explore the impact of AA for autistic children, gathering insights from both school settings and parental perspectives to provide an ecological account of this neurodiversity-aligned Early Intervention (EI) approach. A tailored observation framework was used to monitor the speaking and non-vocal communication development of four autistic children over a six-week AA programme in a Special School in Northern Ireland. Semi-structured interviews with the children’s parents further explored perceptions of AA’s influence on their children’s communication. By integrating data from observations and interviews, the study examined impacts across home and school environments. Observation findings demonstrated positive communication development among all participants, while thematic analysis of parental interviews highlighted perceptions of spontaneous and transferable communication progress in everyday settings. Parents noted limited awareness of AA and EI strategies before participating in the study. These findings contribute to the literature by showcasing the potential benefits of neuro-affirming EI approaches like AA in fostering communication development in autistic children.