The Social Validity of a Novel Caregiver Intervention to Support Episodic Memory in Autism: A Single-Case Study.

This article focuses on evaluating the social validity and efficacy of a novel caregiver-mediated elaborative reminiscing intervention designed to support episodic memory (EM) in an 8-year-old girl with autism. Episodic memory, which involves recalling personal past experiences with specific details of time, place, and subjective perspective, is foundational to social communication but often impaired in individuals with autism. The study used a single-case ABA design with mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, finding that the caregiver perceived improvements in her daughter's EM and communication abilities, supported by gains on standardized EM assessments post-intervention. While the caregiver did not maintain the structured intervention format, she incorporated elaborative reminiscing strategies naturally into daily conversations, indicating the intervention's feasibility and acceptability. These findings suggest that caregiver training in elaborative reminiscing holds promise as a socially valid approach to enhancing EM in children with autism, warranting further research with larger and more diverse samples.