Parents’ Adoption of Social Communication Intervention Strategies: Families Including Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Who are Minimally Verbal

Stephanie Y. Shire, Kelly Goods, Wendy Shih, Charlotte Distefano, Ann Kaiser, Courtney Wright, Pamela Mathy, Rebecca Landa, Connie Kasari

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

Notably absent from the intervention literature are parent training programs targeting school-aged children with autism who have limited communication skills (Tager-Flusberg and Kasari in Autism Res 6:468–478, 2013). Sixty-one children with autism age 5–8 with minimal spontaneous communication received a 6-month social communication intervention including parent training. Parent–child play interactions were coded for parents’ strategy implementation and children’s time jointly engaged (Adamson et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 39:84–96, 2009). Parents mastered an average of 70 % of the strategies. Further analyses indicated some gains in implementation occurred from mere observation of sessions, while the greatest gains occurred in the first month of active coaching and workshops. Children’s joint engagement was associated with parents’ implementation success across time demonstrating parents’ implementation was relevant to children’s social engagement.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1712-1724
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume45
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 5 2015

Keywords

  • Autism
  • Coaching
  • Intervention
  • Minimally verbal
  • Parent training

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Developmental and Educational Psychology

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