Autism Spectrum Disorder
Conditions
Brief summary
The intervention under examination is designed to promote parents' school engagement following the transition from Early Intervention (EI) to preschool for parents of young children who were diagnosed with ASD through our screening and assessment protocol. The brief intervention employs principles of motivational interviewing to address not only the particular child characteristics and needs associated with ASD but also the unique, system-related challenges of navigating the special education system and advocating for appropriate services. Motivational interventions with parents are designed to elicit parents' specific, action-oriented goals for themselves and their children, enhancing motivation to pursue change, and addressing and resolving obstacles or sources of ambivalence. By identifying and capitalizing on parents' strengths, empowering parents to develop specific goals, and improving parents' readiness to engage actively with their children's school, teacher, and educational team, we expect that this brief intervention will lead to higher levels of parental school involvement, higher special education engagement, and closer and more productive parent teacher relationships.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALParent Preschool Engagement intervention
This 1-2 session intervention (2-4 hours total) will involve one-on-one session(s) for parents whose children (all of whom have received a diagnosis of ASD through our study) are turning 3 and therefore transitioning from the Early Intervention system to the public school special education system. The intervention will utilize motivational interviewing (MI) principles to equip parents with the skills, knowledge, and clarity of goals necessary to collaborate effectively with school special education staff and teachers, to advocate for their children's needs, and to be empowered to navigate the special education system.
BEHAVIORALAttention Control
The attention control condition is parallel in format (one-on-one between parent with interventionist) and intensity (1-2 sessions, or 2-4 hours total). It involves open-ended interviews with parents about their child's development and plans for school.
Sponsors
Tufts Medical Center
Northeastern University
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
University of Massachusetts, Boston
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
14 Months to 3 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Parents of children who participated in our screening and assessment study, whose children received diagnoses of autism through our assessment, AND * whose children are turning 3 and transitioning out of Early Intervention services.
Exclusion criteria
Children who are medically complex OR * have a previous diagnosis of ASD outside of our study OR * Don't have a parent/guardian who speak/understand sufficient English or Spanish to complete study materials OR * Don't qualify for Early Intervention services
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| parental school involvement | 3 months post-intervention | parent report on the school involvement subscale of the Parent-Teacher Involvement Scale |
| parent-teacher relationship quality | 3 months post-intervention | parent-report on the relationship subscale of the Parent-Teacher Involvement Scale |
| parent-special education engagement | 3 months post-intervention | parent report on the Parent-Special Education Engagement Scale |
Outcome results
None listed