Evaluation of a telehealth parent training program in teaching self‐care skills to children with autism

Boutain et al. (2020) tested a Zoom-based parent training program. Parents of children with autism learned to teach self-care skills using graduated guidance.

The team used behavioral skills training (BST) online. They showed a short video, let parents practice, and gave live feedback. No one traveled to the homes.

Every parent hit near-perfect accuracy after the Zoom sessions. Their kids also made big jumps in brushing teeth, washing hands, and other daily tasks.

Skills stayed high when parents checked back weeks later. The gains happened without a single in-person visit.

Neely et al. (2022) took the idea one step further. They used the same telehealth BST steps to train BCBAs, not parents. Four BCBAs reached 100% fidelity in four sessions and kept the skill for almost a year.

Higgins et al. (2017) showed remote BST can also teach staff to run preference assessments. Both studies prove the model works for different people and tasks.

Eid et al. (2017) seems to disagree at first glance. They trained Saudi mothers in person and got the same high parent fidelity and child gains. The difference is delivery style, not results. Telehealth matches face-to-face BST when video and feedback are used.

You can run full parent training from your office. One Zoom BST block is enough for parents to master graduated guidance and for kids to gain self-care independence. Use this model when travel, distance, or health limits home visits. Record a short clip, watch parents practice, and give immediate feedback just like the study did.