Brief report: Evaluation of an adapted youth version of Parents Taking Action for parents of pre/adolescents with autism spectrum disorder in Colombia.
Four short Spanish-language classes on puberty and safety quickly boost Colombian autism parents’ know-how and confidence.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers in Colombia ran a four-week parent class. Each week was one three-hour meeting.
The topic was puberty, sexuality, and staying safe. All parents had a son or daughter with autism .
Half the parents started the class right away. The other half waited. Both groups filled out surveys before and after.
What they found
Parents who took the class scored higher on four things: knowledge, confidence, useful strategies, and feeling empowered.
They also said they liked the course and would tell a friend to join. The wait-list parents did not improve until they got their turn.
How this fits with other research
Ballan (2012) interviewed parents and learned many avoid sex talks because they think their autistic child “won’t get it.” The new class tackles that fear head-on with plain language and visuals.
Brandi Gomes Godoy et al. (2024) showed Brazilian parents happily attend short community classes for younger kids’ communication skills. Mariana et al. now show the same short-class model works for Colombian families facing puberty issues.
Rosales et al. (2021) found Latino families often quit ABA early because of language barriers. This study kept families by running groups in Spanish and using local examples.
Why it matters
You can copy this cheap, four-night plan for your own Latino families. One BCBA can lead the group in a clinic library after work. Parents leave with handouts, a safety plan, and the courage to keep talking at home. Try it next month and measure their confidence before and after—you should see the same jump.
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Join Free →Email your Spanish-speaking families of 10-young learners and invite them to a free four-week puberty info group—use the Parents Taking Action slides translated in the paper.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
We evaluated the efficacy of the youth version of the program Parents Taking Action in Bogota, Colombia. This program aims to provide information, resources, and strategies about topics of puberty, sexuality, and adolescence for parents of preadolescents with autism spectrum disorder. We examined whether parents in the treatment groups would improve in levels of knowledge, empowerment, self-efficacy, and use of strategies compared to the control group. We recruited two groups of Colombian parents of pre/adolescent with autism spectrum disorder between the ages of 10 and 17 in the city of Bogota, Colombia, through a community-based organization. One of the groups received the intervention and the other served as a control group. Parents in the control group received the intervention after the 4-month follow-up. The intervention included four 3-h weekly sessions in which the curriculum with nine topic areas was delivered providing parents with a space to practice strategies, learn from others, and set goals. Parents in the intervention group reported significantly greater knowledge, self-efficacy, use of strategies, and empowerment compared to the control/waitlist group. Parents were also highly satisfied with the content, materials, and peer connections that the program offered. The program has potential for high impact as information is scarce and parents do not have resources related to the complicated developmental stages of pre/adolescence. The program shows promise as an efficacious tool for community organizations and health providers to provide extra support to families of youth with autism spectrum disorder.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2024 · doi:10.1177/13623613231155773