Evaluation of the Autism Distance Education Parent Training (ADEPT) Program in Boise, Idaho

Background:

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) symptoms are optimally mitigated when treatment is started as early as possible (Zweigenbaum, et al., 2015). An effective intervention for young children with ASD is Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) (Rogers and Vismara, 2008).

In Idaho, access to ABA treatment is lacking. A semblance of ABA is provided by developmental disability agencies to children who qualify. Generally, those providing the treatment obtain less training and supervision in ABA compared to behavior therapists in other states. Also, the quality and type of behavioral intervention offered by school districts is variable.

Professionals at the MIND Institute at UC Davis have addressed ABA access issues by designing the Autism Distance Education Parent Training (ADEPT) program for parents who have a child with an ASD. Parents review on-line modules that demonstrate how to use ABA principles to improve functional skills and reduce problematic behaviors in children with ASD. Parents then attend two, twelve hour, group parent training workshops led by treatment professionals to enhance their ABA knowledge. Parents then have a home visit with two of the treatment professionals after each workshop. Findings from an unpublished pilot study at MIND found a significant increase from pre to post training in parent-reported confidence in the ability to implement ABA principles and parent knowledge of ABA principles.

Objectives:

Providers at a children’s hospital in Boise, Idaho wanted to determine the benefit of the ADEPT program for local parents of children with ASD. Specifically, would parent-reported confidence in the ability to implement ABA principles and parent knowledge of ABA principles increase from pre to post training? Also, would parenting sense of competence increase and autism-related parenting stress decrease from pre to post training? Positive outcomes would support funding for broader investigation and implementation of the ADEPT program throughout the state.

Methods:

Five providers from the children’s hospital (mental health providers and an occupational therapist) were trained by a trainer from UC Davis MIND Institute on how to conduct the ADEPT training. Simultaneously, eight parents who had a child with an ASD (ages 2 to 5) underwent the ADEPT training, which was led mainly by the providers. Parents of children with a recent diagnosis of ASD were recruited to participate from a referral pool created by the providers.

Before and after training, parents completed the Autism Parenting Stress Index (Silva and Schalock, 2012), Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (Johnson and Mash, 1989), and surveys that assessed parent-reported confidence in the ability to implement ABA principles and parent knowledge of ABA principles (unpublished).

Results:

Parent-reported confidence in the ability to implement ABA principles increased from pre to post training. Parent knowledge of ABA principles either remained the same or impoved from pre to post training. Parenting sense of competence and autism-related parenting stress did not change from pre to post training.

Conclusions:

Initial results are promising and are generally consistent with the MIND Institute pilot study. Future studies will examine the benefit of the ADEPT training across Idaho.