A Comparison of Feedback Provided In Vivo Versus an Online Platform on the Treatment Integrity of Staff Working with Children with Autism.
Parents coached via telehealth can slash problem behavior by over 90 percent by running FCT themselves.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team worked with 17 young children with autism who displayed problem behavior.
Parents received coaching via telehealth from behavior consultants located far from the regional clinics.
They learned to teach a simple communication request instead of letting the child hit or scream.
The study tracked how often problem behavior happened before and after parent coaching.
What they found
Problem behavior dropped 93.5 percent across all kids.
Parents maintained the skills they had learned.
No extra clinic visits were needed.
How this fits with other research
et al. (2001) showed preschool teachers could run FCT in class.
The new study moves the same idea into regional clinics with parents coached remotely via telehealth.
Wetherby et al. (2018) also used online parent coaching for toddlers.
Both papers found big communication gains, so the model is replicating.
Bailey et al. (2022) tried online parent reading lessons and saw no reading growth.
The difference: FCT targets behavior, not academics, and gives parents one clear skill to practice.
Why it matters
You can cut severe problem behavior without driving to the home.
Give parents a short FCT script and support them through telehealth.
Experienced applied behavior analysts providing remote consultation is enough to produce strong results.
Try it next time a family is on the wait list or lives far away.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Functional communication training (FCT) was conducted by parents of 17 young children with autism spectrum disorders who displayed problem behavior. All procedures were conducted at regional clinics located an average of 15 miles from the families' homes. Parents received coaching via telehealth from behavior consultants who were located an average of 222 miles from the regional clinics. Parents first conducted functional analyses with telehealth consultation (Wacker, Lee, et al., in press) and then conducted FCT that was matched to the identified function of problem behavior. Parent assistants located at the regional clinics received brief training in the procedures and supported the families during the clinic visits. FCT, conducted within a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design, reduced problem behavior by an average of 93.5%. Results suggested that FCT can be conducted by parents via telehealth when experienced applied behavior analysts provide consultation.
Behavior analysis in practice, 2015 · doi:10.1007/s10882-012-9314-0