Preliminary Findings of a Telehealth Approach to Parent Training in Autism

Abstract

Telehealth or online communication technologies may lessen the gap between intervention requirements for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and the available resources to provide these services. This study used a video conferencing and self-guided website to provide parent training in the homes of children with ASD. The first eight families to complete the 12-week online intervention and three-month follow up period served as pilot data. Parents' intervention skills and engagement with the website, as well as children's verbal language and joint attention skills were assessed. Preliminary research suggests telehealth may support parental learning and improve child behaviors for some families. This initial assessment of new technologies for making parent training resources available to families with ASD merits further, in-depth study.

The use of telehealth in early autism training for parents: a scoping review

“…One study included two parent-child dyads, 11 and the other study involved eight parent-child dyads. 4 Vismara et al 4 reported that all eight of the parents in their study were married, and at least one parent had a college or post-college education. It was reported that the parents had an annual income of between US $16,000 to over US $100,000.…”

“…4,11 One conducted a proof-of-concept pilot study in 2010 to determine the feasibility of using remote technology in parent training in EI for autism within a home setting. 11 This research team compared two models of service delivery for two preschool-aged subjects with autism that specifically targeted strategies aimed at increasing the children's attention and motivation, turn-taking routines, initiating and responding to joint attention, communication, using pictures and objects, and imitation.…”

“…Vismara et al 4 reported that the families completed the telehealth intervention sessions using a laptop and webcam. The treating clinician used an office computer and webcam.…”

“…2 As the rate of autism increases, it places a major demand on families and specialists to secure and provide behavioral, educational, and family services. 4 Given the nature of ASD, children with this diagnosis present with a variety of different clinical symptoms ranging from severe to minor impairments. This inherent heterogeneity complicates the clinical goal of identifying the predictors that are likely to affect a child's response to treatment.…”

“…This may involve live video streaming to communicate in real time with a health care provider, or interacting with online multimedia platforms to learn new information. 4,11 This method of service delivery for providing EI training to families has the potential to significantly improve the ability of providers to work with families in a timely manner, while delivering consultative services to the family in the child's naturalistic or home-based setting, and conducting professional development or training activities for parents and local professionals. 9 To better understand how telehealth has been used for the training of caregivers as part of EI services for children with ASD, the authors conducted a scoping review to identify the extent and range of the existing literature on the use of telehealth for parental or caregiver training purposes, as well as to summarize the research findings.…”