Adherence to Discrete‐trial Instruction Procedures by Rural Parents of Children With Autism

Abstract

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders may not attempt treatment, even when effective treatment options are available. Little is known about how to improve frequency of attempts to implement treatment (‘treatment adherence’). We provided 32 rural parents of young children with autism spectrum disorders with either written or video training materials about how to implement discrete‐trial instruction and compared parental adherence between the written (control) and video (experimental) groups. Parents who received video instructions adhered to the training procedures to a significantly greater extent than did parents who received written instructions, suggesting that instruction format is a predictor of training success. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Parent-Mediated Intervention Training Delivered Remotely for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Living Outside of Urban Areas: Systematic Review

“…The 7 studies included 1 quasi-experimental design by St. Peter et al [ 46 ], 1 nonconcurrent multiple-baseline designs by Wacker et al [ 47 ], 2 single-subject multiple-baseline design by Vismara et al [ 12 , 48 ], 1 RCT each by Ingersoll et al [ 44 ] and Pickard et al [ 45 ], and 2 prepost test design studies by Hamad et al [ 49 ] and Heitzman-Powell et al [ 50 ]. A lack of control groups in 5 of the 7 studies precluded the ability to conduct a meta-analysis of the results.…”

“…The studies by Hamad et al [ 49 ], Heitzman-Powell et al [ 50 ], Vismara et al [ 12 , 48 ], and Wacker et al [ 47 ] demonstrated level IV evidence. The study by St. Peter et al [ 46 ] demonstrated level III-1 evidence and the study by Ingersoll et al [ 44 ] and Pickard et al [ 45 ] was classified as level II [ 43 - 45 ] evidence as per the NHMRC level of evidence guidelines (see Table 2 ) [ 41 ]. The low level of evidence may indicate that it is difficult to conduct research with this population due to travelling distance to research centers and reachability through recruitment strategies, thus making robust study designs more challenging.…”

“…Knowledge acquisition by parents was measured by Hamad et al [ 49 ], Heitzman-Powell et al [ 50 ], and in the study by Ingersoll and Berger [ 43 ], Ingersoll et al [ 44 ], and Pickard et al [ 45 ] using quizzes covering the content in the intervention; all studies reported significant increases in knowledge post intervention. Parents’ skills in implementing the acquired therapy techniques were investigated by Heitzman-Powell et al [ 50 ], St. Peter et al [ 46 ], Vismara et al [ 12 , 48 ], Wacker et al [ 47 ], and in the study by Ingersoll and Berger [ 43 ], Ingersoll et al [ 44 ], and Pickard et al [ 45 ]. All of the studies reported statistically significant improvements in parents’ skills in administering skills learnt through the interventions.…”

Adapting the orthoptic investigation for children with autism spectrum disorders: how can research from other healthcare areas be applied to orthoptic practice? A literature review

“…Use of parents as therapists is not without obstacles. In a study of parental compliance in giving therapy to their ASD children, 31 no parent was found to be 100% compliant. Therapy recommended by the orthoptic department to be completed at home may therefore have a low compliance rate.…”

Instructional Package to Promote Early Educators’ Use of Behavior-Specific Praise

“…Second, the cost of hiring a coach can be disproportionately burdensome to early education centers that serve children from low socioeconomic status families. And third, coaches are not always available in rural areas (Connell, Sanders, & Markie-Dadds, 1997;NICHD, 2002;St. Peter, et al, 2014).…”