Evaluation of a Consultation for Implementing a 6-session Parent Training by a Child Development Support Staff

Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a parent training implemented by a child development support staff for parents of child with developmental disabilities. The staff was provided a lecture on the implementation of the parent training before implementation and discussed fidelity of the parent training and results of works by the parents with the researchers after each session on the phone. The staff implemented the parent training for 4 parents of young child with autism spectrum disabilities. The parent training was composed of selecting target behaviors and routines, developing parenting procedures that used antecedent and consequent controls, monitoring their children’s target behaviors at target routines, and modifying the parenting procedures based on results of parent monitoring. We evaluated whether the children’s target behaviors increased and categorized the staff’s feedback on the reports by parents as listening, labeled praise, unlabeled praise, statement about children, statement about parents, direct instruction, suggestion, relating statement, corrective criticism, or other. The results suggested that three children’s target behaviors increased as a result of parent monitoring. The analysis of the staff’s feedback suggests that future research should develop and evaluated the implementation training which promotes staffs to use labeled praises and statements about children.