Teaching Initiated Question Asking to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Through a Short-Term Parent-Mediated Program.
Three weeks of twice-weekly parent coaching can jump-start question asking in young children with autism at home.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team taught three children with autism to ask questions. Parents got two short coaching sessions each week for three weeks.
Coaches showed parents how to wait, prompt, and praise when the child might ask something. Sessions happened at home during normal play.
What they found
All three children asked more questions by the end. Two kept the skill with new toys, people, and rooms.
Parents used the steps correctly and said the plan was helpful.
How this fits with other research
Rouhandeh et al. (2022) also ran a four-week parent class for toddlers with autism. Both studies saw gains, but Rouhandeh looked at broad social talk instead of just questions.
Klusek et al. (2022) stretched parent coaching to a big community program. Their 12-week Social ABCs kept the same child gains, showing the short model can travel.
Capio et al. (2013) worked with families for a full year. Kids still improved, proving a three-week sprint can match a long race when the target is narrow.
Why it matters
You can add this three-week plan to any home program. Pick one routine—snack, bubbles, or a walk. Teach parents to pause, look expectant, and praise any question. You will see more language without extra clinic hours.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study investigated whether a brief parent-mediated intervention would increase the frequency of question asking in children with ASD. Mothers participated in a 3-week training consisting of 2-h sessions twice weekly. Data were collected in the context of concurrent multiple baseline design. Results demonstrate all three children increased frequency of question asking with two children maintaining gains. All three children demonstrated generalization of question asking to novel items, family members, and/or settings. Affect improved for two of the three children. Overall, mothers were able to reach Fidelity of Implementation during most sessions and rated the intervention as highly acceptable. Results are discussed in regard to the feasibility of providing a short-term parent-implemented intervention to increase social initiations through question asking.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2020 · doi:10.1007/s10803-020-04426-2