Increasing parent involvement in communication intervention: a case study

Autism researchers often use mand training paired with direct trial instruction (DTI) as an effective way to increase communication skills for young children with autism. However, these methods often occur in clinical settings. In this case study, we trained a parent to complete a DTI verbal mand intervention with her son with autism. She completed the intervention in her home with high fidelity. The results showed the child increased his use of verbal requests, and maintained a similar rate of response when the intervention was removed. In a follow-up interview, the parent expressed that the intervention was feasible to implement and that the child generalized skills learned by communicating outside of the intervention sessions. This case study demonstrates the effective use of a parent as an interventionist when implementing a highly-structured intervention in the home. The authors provide a descriptive protocol for training parents to be used across multiple disciplines .