The effects of the Quality Book Reading Early Intervention Program (NIKO) on Turkish fathers and their children with autism spectrum disorder

Parents who play a critical role in supporting their children's development. NIKO is an early intervention program that families can use in Turkey. The primary purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of a shared reading intervention titled the NIKO program on the interaction behaviors of fathers and their children's pivotal behaviors and language skills. This study was carried out with 23 child-father dyads, 8 of whom were in the face-to-face experimental group, 8 online participants in the experimental group, and 7 in the control group, who were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) aged 0-6. Pretest-Posttest control group design was used in the study in which quantitative data collection method was used. The NIKO program training lasted about five weeks with an average of two training sessions per week. Statistical analysis revealed that the NIKO program was effective and that it had positive effects on both parents and their children with ASD. Specifically, the findings showed that parents in two different groups (face-to-face and online) exhibited more interactive and developmentally supportive behaviors after the intervention. The same effect continued one month after the end of the intervention.