Perspectives from parents of autistic children on participating in early intervention and associated research.
Parents feel safe during early intervention but abandoned at discharge unless you map out the next supports before the last day.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Waldron et al. (2023) talked with parents who finished an early-intervention autism programme.
They asked how the families felt during the service and after it stopped.
The team recorded what parents said about trust, safety, and the day the help ended.
What they found
Parents loved the programme while it ran. They felt safe, saw their child learn, and trusted the staff.
When the service ended they felt dropped. They used words like "abandoned" and "powerless."
The big worry: no plan for what happens next.
How this fits with other research
Koegel et al. (2014) also looked at the same EarlyBird Plus course. They only asked survey questions right after graduation and heard happy answers. Waldron et al. (2023) dug deeper months later and uncovered the messy exit feelings the survey missed.
Leung et al. (2014) listened to parents in an earlier trial. Those families liked the close coach bond but feared being left to "navigate ambiguity" after the study. Waldron et al. (2023) show that fear still happens today and call it abandonment.
Balabanovska et al. (2025) studied rolling out a parent therapy worldwide. They say success hinges on planning for parent stress and time. Waldron et al. (2023) add a new layer: plan for the emotional crash when the service door closes.
Why it matters
You can erase the "cliff" parents feel. Build a written hand-over before the last session. Line up school visits, community groups, and booster calls. When you preview next steps, parents leave empowered, not empty.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Support for autistic children early in life should help them to lead flourishing lives. However, many of the early intervention programmes for young autistic children are time-consuming and costly for families. These programmes are also often conducted in settings that are not closely matched to real life. We spoke to 23 parents (of 22 autistic children) to understand their experiences of their children's involvement in early intervention. Parents told us they were grateful for the opportunity, that they had 'hit the jackpot', and their children had 'gained so much' from the programme. They seemed to value the service because it made them feel safe and secure during an uncertain time in their children's lives. Parents told us they trusted staff, felt that they weren't 'doing it alone', and this 'took that pressure off' and helped them feel empowered. They also spoke of feelings of safety from being linked to the university research programme which offered 'accountability' and 'integrity'. Parents' comments showed a strong commitment to the early intervention model and staff - but also common feelings of abandonment and disempowerment as their child's time with the programme came to an end and they went 'back to the real world' and needed to find new supports for their children. These parents' insights should help to inform the design and delivery of community supports for preschool-aged autistic children and their families, which match the reality of their lived experiences.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2023 · doi:10.1177/13623613221141540