Evaluation of the effects of the Online and Applied System for Intervention Skills (OASIS) with parents of children with ASD using a randomized waitlist control trial.

Abstract

Children with ASD, particularly those living in rural areas, have limited access to effective interventions, such as those based on applied behavior analysis (ABA). The Online and Applied System for Intervention Skills (OASIS) training is designed to address that need by increasing parental ABA knowledge and implementation skills. A waitlist control trial was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the OASIS training. Parent and child dyads were randomly assigned to either the OASIS intervention group or the waitlist control group, with 32 dyads completing pre-and postassessments. Findings suggest that the OASIS training significantly increased parents' knowledge about and use of ABA concepts and skills. Although parents in the OASIS training group showed a greater decrease in parental stress than those that did not receive training, the difference was not statistically significant. Parents reported high levels of satisfaction with the OASIS training program.