Association for Behavior Analysis International

When developing interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders, skill transference to the natural environment is a key component to ensure continued success. Parent training interventions are a key process in transferring learned skills to a child's natural environment. The current symposium explores four applied parent training studies across a variety of topics. Presentation 1 describes findings of a general-case parent training study for infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder via telehealth. Two concurrent multiple baseline designs were implemented to assess parent teaching accuracy and child performance accuracy. Presentation 2 describes the results of a telehealth program designed to train parents to implement their child’s behaviour-analytic sleep intervention. A concurrent multiple baseline design was used to evaluate whether parents could accurately implement their child’s behavior-analytic sleep intervention. Presentation 3 describes the results of a brief, telehealth Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS®; Bondy & Frost, 1994) parent training. A multi-baseline design across behaviors was used to explore the impact of the training on parents’ PECS teaching accuracy. Presentation 4 describes a telehealth/in-person hybrid training model teaching parents to implement PECS with their children. A repeated measures design was used to evaluate parent PECS implementation accuracy at five different time points.

The attendees must have completed or be in completion of a master's degree in or related to the field of applied behaviour analysis.

Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience sleep problems (e.g., delayed sleep onset, frequent night wakings). Research supports parent-implemented, behaviour-analytic sleep interventions to address sleep problems in children with ASD (e.g., Jin et al., 2013; Linnehan et al., 2021). However, more research is needed to determine how accurately parents implement behavioural sleep interventions and the effectiveness of parent training delivered via telehealth. The current study used a concurrent multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate parents’ ability to implement their child’s behavior-analytic sleep intervention. Child sleep-related outcomes were also monitored. Four parents and their children with ASD participated. The parent training program included behavior skills training and nighttime coaching. Secure text chat software (VSee Messenger) was used to provide nightly coaching. D-Link® sound and motion detection cameras were placed in each child’s bedroom to enable data collection on parent behavior (i.e., treatment fidelity) and child behavior (i.e., sleep onset delay, sleep-interfering behaviour, total sleep duration). Parent treatment fidelity increased for all participants. Preliminary analyses of child outcomes indicate that total sleep duration increased for the majority of participants; however, sleep onset delay and occurrences of sleep-interfering behaviours remained variable. Implications for practice will be discussed.

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS®; Bondy & Frost, 1994) is an augmentative and alternative communication system designed to teach functional communication. Research indicates that PECS is an evidence-based communication approach for children and youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite substantial PECS research, little is known about how to train natural mediators such as parents, to teach and support their child’s PECS use. Without parental involvement, system abandonment is likely; reducing the opportunity for socially valid child communication outcomes. This study explored the results of a brief (i.e., two week) telehealth PECS parent training involving group didactic training (i.e., PECS Level 1 Training) and individual behavioral skills training (BST) sessions. Six parents of children with ASD participated. A multi-baseline design across behaviors was used to explore the impact of BST on parents’ PECS teaching accuracy for Phases 1, 2, 3a, and 3b. Results indicate that all parents’ PECS teaching accuracy improved, and outcomes generally maintained at follow-up. Overall, results indicate that a relatively brief telehealth training, using BST, may enhance parent PECS teaching skills. An analysis of common errors, phase accuracy, and rate of mastery will be presented. Limitations, future research directions, and clinical implications will be shared.