Association for Behavior Analysis International

Many parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder around the world have limited or no access to behavior analytic knowledge or services leaving them without support or guidance. Training parents with behavior analytic knowledge or skills can potentially overcome this issue. The purpose of this symposium is to present two different parent training programs designed to provide skills and knowledge that parents need to improve the quality of life for their children and families. The first presentation will discuss a program in which parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder learned the steps necessary to implement an early intervention program. The project was conducted in India. The second presentation will discuss four barriers that get in the way of parents’ access to behavior analytic knowledge: time, place, money, and prerequisite skills, and will introduce a web-based parent training program designed to overcome these barriers.

BACB Certificants

The effectiveness of Early Intervention (EI) program is widely documented to increase the behavioural outcomes of children diagnosed with Autism. Studies have demonstrated positive outcomes for parent-implemented EI approaches for skill development. The majority of these evidence-based interventions have been conducted in the US and Europe, there is increasing interest in adapting evidence-based interventions to different cultures. The current study will share outcome data from a 6-week, ABA-based parent-implemented EI program from Bangalore, India. 81 children (range 18 mo.- 60 mo.) and their caregivers enrolled in the program. The goals were adapted from ABLLS-R and included validated instructional procedures. The parents were trained to use errorless teaching for skill acquisition and behaviour management strategies. The result of the program demonstrated significant gains across all domains, supporting the existing literature. Parents reported high levels (M = 28.2 out of 30) of social validity for the program. Further, the outcome for parents demonstrated significant gains in the acquisition of training skills . These findings have implications for cultural adaptations of evidence-based interventions. These findings are timely as there is a growing recognition of the prevalence of ASD and need for EI services in India, yet a limited number of certified behaviour analysts.