Advocacy in Action: Parent coaching interventions improve children’s autism symptoms

Credit: Poul-Werner Dam on Flickr

Young children’s autism symptoms improved when their parents used the PLAY Project Home Intervention Program, according new research. Using this program also benefited parents because they had fewer symptoms of depression, report researchers Richard Solomon M.D. of the Ann Arbor (Mich.) Center for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and colleagues.

Study details

The research, a clinical trial, involved 128 families that had a child with autism. Researchers divided the families into two groups. In one group, children received treatment from community services such as occupational therapy and speech and language therapy. In the second group, children received treatment from community services and through the PLAY Project. After one year, the families receiving treatment through the PLAY Project showed:

greater improvement in parent-child interactions

decreased symptoms of depression in parents

moderate to large improvements in parents' ability to "sensitively respond and effectively engage their children"

moderate to large improvements in the children's interaction skills, with "increased shared attention and initiation."

The PLAY Project Explained

The PLAY (Play and Language for Autistic Youngsters) Project is a home based early intervention program. Parents receive training from PLAY Project consultants who come to their homes. The Play Project consultants assess children and then develop specific PLAY programs for parents to follow with their children. The programs are "a set of techniques and activities designed to help children reach these outcomes:

increased caregiver/parent and child interaction

increased social interaction of children with autism

improved social-emotional development of children with autism

improved autism-related diagnostic category/symptoms including behavioral compliance."

More information is available on the PLAY Project's website.

“PLAY Project Home Consultation Intervention Program for Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial” is published in the Journal of Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics.

Sources:

PLAY Project Home Consultation Intervention Program for Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Parent Coaching Early Intervention Program Benefits Young Children with Autism

PLAY Project website

I originally published this article on Examiner.com.