The purpose of this research was to evaluate a self-instructional package (Fazzio & Martin, 2007) to train parents of children with autism to conduct discrete-trials teaching (DTT). In Study 1, we investigated the effectiveness of a self-instructional manual and a self-instructional video for teaching five parents of children with autism to correctly apply DTT to teach three tasks to a confederate who role-played a child with autism, and to their own child when possible. Following an average of 4.76 h of training, the package produced a strong effect with three parents and a weak effect with two parents. In Study 2, we investigated the effectiveness of the self-instructional manual combined with role-playing and feedback, plus the self-instructional video, for teaching an additional five parents. Following an average of 4.68 h of training, all five parents demonstrated large, clinically significant gains in their performance of DTT, both with a confederate as well as with their own child, with a minimal investment of one-on-one instructor time. These results suggest that the training package in Study 2 has considerable potential as an effective, efficient and acceptable method of training parents of children with autism to apply DTT.
Intensive behavioral intervention based on applied behavior analysis (ABA) has been recognized as the treatment of choice for children with autism (Department of Health, 1999 and Matson and Smith, 2008; also see the treatment section of Matson & Sturmey, 2011). A widely used method for conducting ABA training sessions is known as discrete-trials teaching (DTT). DTT involves the presentation of training trials in rapid succession during a teaching session, with each trial including an antecedent provided by the instructor, a response from the child, and a consequence applied by the instructor. Currently, there is a great demand for efficient and effective training procedures to teach instructors and parents to conduct DTT with children with autism.
Three studies have been used to evaluate the impact of instructing parents of children with autism to conduct DTT on parental and child behavior (Crockett et al., 2007, Koegel et al., 1978 and Lafasakis and Sturmey, 2007). The results of these studies suggest that a variety of instructional methods to teach DTT to parents, including combinations of behavioral skills training, videotaped and in vivo modeling of DTT, role-play, practice with children with autism, and feedback on their performance are effective at improving parent's correct implementation of DTT procedures, and at improving correct responding by children with autism. However, these studies involved lengthy training time and/or one-on-one instructor training, suggesting the need for more cost-effective methods of delivery, such as those involving self-instructional formats.
Previous research has demonstrated that self-instructional manuals (e.g. Miltenberger & Fuqua, 1985) plus videos (Kratochwill, 1989) are effective means of teaching behavioral assessment and consultation interviewing skills to graduate students. In a recent study, Thomson et al. (2012) evaluated a self-instructional manual (Fazzio & Martin, 2007) and video (Fazzio, 2007) for teaching DTT to newly hired ABA tutors working with children with autism. The results of that study demonstrated that the self-instructional training package was a relatively effective, rapid form of teaching tutors to apply DTT, both while working with confederates role-playing children with autism, and while working with children with autism. The purpose of the present research was to extend this previous research by evaluating the effectiveness of the Fazzio-Martin self-instructional package for teaching parents of children with autism how to apply DTT.
1. Study 1
