The long-term effects of functional communication training in home settings.

Four children with autism or developmental delays got FCT in their own homes.

Therapists taught each child a simple way to ask for what they wanted instead of hitting or screaming.

Parents helped run sessions and the team checked back for up to 27 months to see if the gains lasted.

Problem behavior dropped right away for three kids and slowly for the fourth.

All four kept using their new words or signs and their problem behavior stayed low for the whole follow-up.

Parents also saw more play and fewer tantrums during daily routines like meals and bedtime.

Jones et al. (1992) first showed FCT could last with new teachers; this study proves it can last even longer when you train parents at home.

Banerjee et al. (2022) later added bilingual training and repair steps; the core home-FCT model from 1997 still holds, you just layer on extras when needed.

Cappadocia et al. (2012) used parents to deliver the training to toddlers; together these papers show FCT works from age 2 through early elementary when parents are the main coaches.

You can teach families to run FCT themselves and expect gains to stick for years. Start with a quick functional analysis, pick one clear mand, and coach parents during normal routines like snack time. The payoff is less problem behavior and more language without extra clinic visits.