Telepractice Delivery of Caregiver Coaching for Parents of School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Taiwan: A Pilot Study
Online coaching lets parents of school-aged kids with autism run communication strategies and their children talk more, no travel needed.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Liao and her team ran a small pilot in Taiwan. They coached parents of school-aged kids with autism through a computer screen.
Each parent learned to prompt and praise communication during daily routines. The researchers tracked parent moves and child words across three families.
What they found
Every parent used the strategies more often after coaching started. Kids asked for items, answered questions, and commented more than before.
Gains stayed high when the coaches stopped calling, showing parents could keep it going alone.
How this fits with other research
Spackman et al. (2025) pushed the same telehealth model further. They coached the families through full functional analyses and hit an meaningful improvement in problem behavior. Their larger sample and stricter benchmark update the Taiwan pilot, proving the screen-only path can handle tough cases.
Davis et al. (2023) echo the idea. They taught three moms to run trial-based FAs and FCT online. Both studies show parents can learn complex ABA steps without anyone entering the home.
McGeown et al. (2013) did the work in person a decade earlier. They trained preschool parents inside schools. Liao simply moves the setting to Zoom and targets older kids, extending parent training across age and distance.
Why it matters
You no longer need to drive to homes or schools to grow parent skills. A laptop, a headset, and a clear script are enough. Start with short, live coaching on one routine—say, snack time. Watch the parent prompt, praise immediately, and see if the child talks more. If it works in Taiwan, it can work in your caseload next week.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Parental involvement is essential in interventions aimed at enhancing communication outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Research has shown that parents can effectively implement evidence-based strategies following professional coaching. However, there is a notable gap in research on the procedures of parent coaching provided to families of children with ASD in Taiwan. This study aims to evaluate a protocol for distance-delivered parent coaching focused on the implementation of evidence-based strategies for parents of children with ASD. This study employed a multiple-probe design across participants to assess both parent implementation of intervention strategies and the communication outcomes of the children involved. The results demonstrated that the online parent coaching program effectively increased parents’ use of evidence-based intervention strategies, which corresponded to measurable improvements in the target communication behaviors of children with ASD. Also, this study highlighted potential challenges, such as the influence of children’s challenging behaviors on the intensity and effectiveness of parent coaching. These findings contribute to the clinical significance of distance caregiver coaching as a possible approach to supporting families of children with ASD, particularly in underserved areas. The necessity of tailoring service intensity and incorporating culturally responsive practices for the diverse needs of families of children with ASD and effective intervention implementation is discussed in this study.
Behavioral Sciences, 2025 · doi:10.3390/bs15020118