Parents As Teachers:

Abstract

A follow-up mail survey of the continuing use of behavior modification procedures was conducted with 30 families who had participated in a training program for parents of preschool children with autism four to seven years previously. According to their reports 86% of the parents had used behavioral procedures during the past week to manage their child's behavior and 54% said they used the techniques to teach their child a new skill. More than half of the parties said they no longer used “formal” behavior modification procedures including data collection. Mothers were more likely to use formal behavior modification than father and systematic paternal use of behavioral techniques was linked to maternal use- only one father used the techniques including data collection when his wife did not. Retrospective parental evaluations of the parent training workshop were all positive, although the parents who viewed their children as doing better gave stronger endorsements than the parents who say their children as more limited.