Telehealth Training in Naturalistic Communication Intervention for Mothers of Children with Angelman Syndrome
Moms of Angelman toddlers can learn naturalistic communication tactics through live Zoom coaching, and their kids talk and engage a little more.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Six moms of toddlers with Angelman syndrome got live video coaching. They learned to wait, watch, and respond when their child looked, reached, or made a sound.
Each mom started training at a different time. Researchers tracked how well the moms used the new moves and how much the kids talked or played.
What they found
Every mom hit high fidelity after a few sessions and stayed there. Kids showed small but steady gains in eye contact, pointing, and word-like sounds.
Gains held one month later, even though coaching had ended.
How this fits with other research
Ferguson et al. (2018) looked at 28 telehealth ABA studies and said most were poorly designed. Rispoli’s tight single-case design answers that call for stronger proof.
Corona et al. (2021) tested the same telehealth parent-coach model with autistic toddlers and saw similar small child gains. The pattern shows the method works across diagnoses.
Rollins et al. (2016) ran the same kind of coaching in person. Their kids improved just like Rispoli’s, so telehealth appears to match face-to-face results.
Wallisch et al. (2024) found that parents who felt unsure at first used extra videos and improved most. Rispoli gave all moms the same package; future Angelman work could target the unsure ones first.
Why it matters
You can now tell funders and families that Angelman moms can master naturalistic strategies on Zoom. No travel, no wait list, same parent fidelity as in-person trials. Start with one case, film baseline, then roll out the same five-step script.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Young children with Angelman syndrome have significant delays in expressive communication. Parents of children with Angelman syndrome require training to support their child’s communication development. Unfortunately, parent training focused on the needs of families of children with rare genetic syndromes is unavailable to many families. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a telehealth parent training program on naturalistic communication intervention for young children with Angelman syndrome. Using two single-case multiple baseline designs across a total of six parent–child dyads, we evaluated the effects of a telehealth parent training program on parent implementation fidelity of a naturalistic communication intervention, child communication, and child engagement. With the telehealth parent training program, parent implementation fidelity of naturalistic communication intervention improved, maintained and generalized to untrained home routines. Small effects on child communication and engagement were observed during the program. Parents of children with Angelman syndrome were successfully taught via telehealth to implement a naturalistic communication intervention with their child at home. Additional research is needed to promote positive child communication outcomes through parent-mediated intervention.
Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 2022 · doi:10.1007/s41252-022-00284-4