Project Description:
The prevalence of autism in America is reaching epidemic proportions. The U.S. Department of Education has documented almost a 220% increase in the last 12 years (DOE, 2003). As with any other chronic and debilitating childhood disorder, early, intensive and comprehensive intervention is of paramount importance. Unfortunately, the excessive cost associated with these interventions prevents many children from benefiting from them. While training parents to implement effective interventions themselves can significantly reduce the cost of services, limitations imposed by geographical location or transportation prohibits many families from accessing appropriate training. The lack of access can have devastating effects on child-outcomes as well as the overall quality of family life. Some research has suggested that without intensive early intervention, nearly 90% of these children will require some type of residential placement when they are adults (Lovaas, 1987). This project seeks to address this access and training deficit by developing a program that uses a Research-to-Practice Outreach Training model to teach parents of children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) how to implement empirically-based interventions with their children. The development of this program will proceed across four phases: 1) Initial content and system development and informational focus groups; 2) formative evaluation; 3) Quasi-experimental assessment and system refinement; and 4) final analysis and preparation for dissemination. Drawing from the Participatory Action Research Model, parents of children with Autism will use online tutorials to learn general information and concepts related to an intervention or treatment protocol followed by either an onsite or telemedicine clinic intervention session. During the intervention session parents will practice the techniques discussed in that week's online tutorials with their child while receiving guidance and immediate feedback from a Ph.D. or Master's level clinician. Program effectiveness will be evaluated based on: level of parental knowledge and skill fluency; child level of disability (e.g. the ICF) and behavior; and reported family quality of life. In addition, participants will complete exit surveys and interviews to elicit feedback regarding how the program could be improved and any problems the experienced. Families selected for the evaluation stage will be selected based on child's age (19 months to five years), diagnosis (ASD), and time of diagnosis (within the last 6 months). Intervention components will be introduced to study families in a multiple baseline design. These families will be paid for their participation in the project. In order to assess the sustainability of the project, following the Quasi-experimental assessment and refinement of the system, six additional families will be recruited to participate in the outreach telemedicine clinic from a community-based telemedicine site. These families will not be paid to participate, allowing for an initial assessment of the sustainability of this model past the end of funding. A final analyses of data collected during previously will be conducted. Given positive results, this technique will be disseminated to other institutions serving individuals with developmental disabilities in other regions of the country. Following the final analysis of data, families on the waiting list will be contacted and offered access to all program components (assessment and intervention services).
Keyword(s):
Autism, Parent Training
Core Function(s):
Training Trainees, Performing Technical Assistance and/or Training, Performing Research or Evaluation, Developing & Disseminating Information
Area of Emphasis
Quality Assurance, Education & Early Intervention, Child Care-Related Activities, Employment-Related Activities, Quality of Life, Other - Cultural Diversity
Target Audience:
Students/Trainees (long or intermediate trainees), Community Trainees / Short term trainees, Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Children/Adolescents with Disabilities/SHCN
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote, Urban, Specific Groups
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
Single-County, Mulit-County, State
COVID-19 Related Data:
N/A
