Parent couples' participation in speech-language therapy for school-age children with autism spectrum disorder in the United States.
Fathers engage less in speech-language therapy for school-age kids with ASD—target them explicitly and give homework support.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Saré et al. (2020) asked 312 U.S. parents of school-age kids with autism about speech-language therapy. Moms and dads filled out separate online surveys.
The team counted who attended sessions, helped with homework, and felt satisfied. They also asked how much support speech therapists gave each parent.
What they found
Fathers showed up less and felt less happy with the service than mothers. Only one in four dads said they often helped with speech homework.
Therapists rarely reached out to dads; most support went to moms. When dads got more therapist contact, they joined more.
How this fits with other research
Mammarella et al. (2022) extends these numbers. Their newer survey shows dads also report different stress and coping styles than moms, so low participation may reflect hidden stress, not lack of care.
Samadi et al. (2014) found parental distress hurts quality of life for both parents. Michelle’s team adds that distress plus low therapist attention keeps dads on the sidelines.
Older mom-only studies like Turk et al. (2010) showed support lifts maternal well-being. Michelle flips the lens: fathers need the same boost, but they are not getting it.
Why it matters
If you run speech or ABA sessions, invite fathers by name. Send homework straight to Dad’s phone and ask therapists to copy him on every note. A two-minute check-in with Dad at pickup can double his involvement and spread the teaching load across both parents.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Text Dad the week’s speech homework with a short video model and ask him to record one practice.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study examined parent couples' participation in and satisfaction with speech-language therapy for school-age children with autism spectrum disorder in the United States. Responses from 40 father-mother couples (n = 80 parents) were examined across therapy components (i.e. parent-therapist communication, assessment, planning, and intervention). Descriptive frequencies, chi-square tests, intraclass correlations, and dyadic multilevel modeling were used to examine participation across fathers and mothers and within parent couples. Compared to mothers, fathers communicated less with therapists and participated less in assessment and planning. Fathers also had lower satisfaction than mothers with parent-therapist communication and planning. Although few parents participated in school-based therapy sessions, 40% of fathers and 50% of mothers participated in homework. However, few parents received homework support from therapists. Results are discussed in terms of clinical implications for interventionists to more effectively engage both fathers and mothers in family-centered speech-language therapy for school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2020 · doi:10.1177/1362361319862113