From core to steps: Development and validation of next-level interactive social pragmatic interventions and...

Early intervention programs such as INSPIRE-Core have highlighted the importance of fostering foundational pragmatic skills-including greetings, simple turn-taking, and sharing-among toddlers with autism. While these foundations are crucial, children require advanced support as they enter preschool and school-age years, where social demands involve initiating conversations, turn-taking, making requests, refusing, greeting appropriately, and clarifying misunderstandings. To address this gap, the present study introduces INSPIRE-Steps, a structured and trackable intervention model for children with autism aged 3-9 years. The program was developed in three phases. In Phase I, a hierarchical toolkit of culturally relevant, story-based modules was created to target higher-order pragmatic competencies such as negotiation, refusal, and communication repair. In Phase II, validation was carried out by a multidisciplinary panel of speech-language pathologists, educators, psychologists, and parents to ensure clarity, developmental appropriateness, and usability. In Phase III, the program was standardized on a stratified sample through caregiver- and teacher-mediated sessions across home and clinical environments.•Continuity: Builds upon INSPIRE-Core by extending to higher-level pragmatic skills.•Toolkit Development: Story-based, stepwise modules for school-age children.•Validation and Standardization: Multidisciplinary review and implementation across home and clinical settings.