A pilot study of parent training in young children with autism spectrum disorders and disruptive behavior.

Bearss et al. (2013) ran a small pilot with parents of preschoolers who had autism and lots of tantrums.

The team taught parents new skills in 11 core sessions plus two optional boosters over six months.

There was no control group; they simply compared before-and-after parent ratings.

Parents scored their kids 54 % less irritable after the course.

Fourteen of the sixteen families said the child was “much” or “very much” improved.

The program looked doable and parents stuck with it.

Burrell et al. (2025) pooled nine later trials and found the same pattern: parent training reliably drops parent-rated disruptive behavior in autism.

Breider et al. (2024) went further with an RCT in real clinics. Face-to-face training beat wait-list, but a blended online version did not. That warns us that live coaching may still matter.

Allen et al. (2022) and Patton et al. (2020) show PCIT, a different manual, also cuts disruptive behavior. The 2013 pilot adds a shorter, home-grown 11-session option to the menu.

You now have choices: PCIT, Incredible Years, or this lighter 11-session package. If clinic slots are tight, Karen’s schedule gives a feasible roadmap you can copy next week. Track parent-rated irritability every month; if it does not dip, swap in a heavier protocol or add live coaching like Breider did.