Effectiveness and acceptability of parent training via telehealth among families around the world

Tsami and colleagues coached three families through a full IISCA and function-based treatment on Zoom.

Parents ran the functional analysis, taught replacement skills, and managed severe behavior at home.

A BCBA guided them live from a different country — no clinic visits needed.

Every parent-child pair finished the IISCA and cut severe problem behavior.

Kids used new communication skills instead of hitting, screaming, or self-injury.

Families said the telehealth model worked for them.

Lindgren et al. (2020) later ran an RCT and measured a 98% drop in problem behavior, giving stronger numbers to the same telehealth FCT idea.

Schieltz et al. (2022) repeated the package with 199 families around the world and still saw big gains, showing the small 2019 result holds at scale.

Spackman et al. (2025) replicated with 17 kids and found an 80% reduction, proving the model keeps working years later.

Hall et al. (2020) used the same telehealth FCT with boys who have fragile X and got a 91% drop, so the method stretches beyond autism.

You can teach parents to run a full IISCA and treatment without driving to their house.

This saves travel time, reaches rural families, and keeps services going during crises like pandemics.

Try starting your next case with a Zoom IISCA — coach the parent to test contingencies while you watch and prompt live.