Parent Group Intervention to Manage Repetitive Behaviours in young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Why was this research being done?
The short-term aim was to conduct a feasibility study of a new parent group intervention to help parents understand and manage their child’s repetitive behaviours.  This study will inform the design of a future large-scale study.  The objective was to enable parents to have a better understanding of why children with ASD may show several repetitive behaviours, and to manage those behaviours which cause difficulty for the family.

What will the researchers be doing?
The study aimed to recruit 36 parents of young children with ASD, aged 3 years to 7 years 11 months, who show several repetitive behaviours.  Eighteen parents were randomly allocated to the intervention (whilst continuing to receive all other services as usual), and 18 to control (services as usual). All families allocated to the control branch of the study were offered  the parent group intervention at a later date.  A range of outcome measures were used to look at any changes in child repetitive behaviours at home and at school, parent management strategies, parent confidence in using strategies and the child’s overall functioning.

What happens at the parent group?
The parent group materials were developed in the North East of England in collaboration with parents.  The group ran for 8 sessions and was led by a specialist teacher and other professionals who are very experienced in working with children who have ASD.  Each session lasts for 2 hours. The parent group involved  information, discussion and sharing of ideas about managing repetitive behaviours. There was also individual support for each family to help tailor behaviour management strategies to their child.

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