Parenting Your Young Child With Autism: A Web-Based Tutorial

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by core deficits in social reciprocity, verbal and nonverbal communication, and behavior. Early detection and intervention has been shown to improve these core deficits, resulting in better long-term outcomes in language functioning, cognitive/developmental skills, and social and adaptive behavior. Despite the demonstrated benefits of effective intervention, few children receive these specialized services, due in part to critical resource barriers, such as the shortage of specialists trained to deliver them. The broad, long-term objective of this project is to improve outcomes for children with autism and their families by empowering caregivers with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively intervene directly with their children as part of their daily interactions and routines. By targeting those with the most invested in the child's success and the longest lasting influence on a child's long-term growth and development, we can help parents in several ways: a) teach parents how to promote their child's development in the core deficit areas seen in young children with autism spectrum disorders: social interaction, communication, play, and imitation; b) help parents understand and improve challenging behaviors their child may demonstrate, and c) reduce caregiver stress through more effective interactions.

To make this training widely accessible to parents of children with autism, we will deliver this training through a web-based, multi-media, interactive tutorial. The tutorial will use principles of instructional design to more effectively deliver the material and utilize high levels of interactivity afforded by the web-based platform to maximize learning. The tutorial teaches skills to improve their child's behavior and communication within the framework of everyday routines and activities, utilizing interactive exercises and a comprehensive set of videos of real parents implementing these strategies with their children within the context of everyday situations.

The specific aims of the proposed Phase II study are:

Aim 1. To evaluate parents' satisfaction and acceptance of the tutorial program Aim 2. To demonstrate the tutorial increases parental knowledge of the principles and techniques for improving effective parenting of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Aim 3. To demonstrate behavioral improvements in actual parenting skills during the daily interactions with their child based on the knowledge gained.

Aim 4. To demonstrate that the improved parenting skills result in social, communication, and behavioral improvements in the children of parents who complete the tutorial.

Aim 5. To demonstrate that improving parenting skills through the use of this web-based tutorial program reduces caregiver stress and depression.