Since parent training as compared to direct clinic treatment is potentially a more economical and effective means of providing treatment, the field in general is moving in this direction as a method of improving the treatment of autistic children. Both the review of the literature and our pilot data provide compelling evidence that parent training is a plausible means of increasing the availability, intensiveness and effectiveness of the treatment as compared to direct clinic intervention. However, many of these results were based on post hoc analyses or case studies. The necessary systematic comparison has not been conducted. Such a comparison will hopefully allow us to assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of each of these approaches. This is important because it is necessary for the development of a treatment program encompassing the strengths of both approaches. Also, no one has yet analyzed the effect of either of these approaches on family members other than the autistic child. Without such an analysis, it is impossible to know, from the point of view of the family, whether or not the effect of the treatment is worthwhile. To evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of these two approaches (parent training and direct clinic treatment), and to assess the impact on the family, we propose to compare two groups. One group will receive the parent-training program, and no clinic treatment. A control group will receive direct clinic treatment for the child and no training for the parents. The measures which will be analyzed include: (1) direct measures of the child's behavior; (2) measures of parent/child interactions in both home and laboratory settings; and (3) measures of parental psychological and marital adjustment, and attitudes toward their child's potential.
NIH ExPorter
NIH ExPorter