The impact of a telehealth platform on ABA-based parent training targeting social communication in children with autism spectrum disorder

Ferguson and team coached six parents of autistic kids through Zoom. Parents learned naturalistic teaching tricks like waiting, modeling, and giving small rewards.

Each family got one live coaching hour a week for eight weeks. The researchers scored how well parents used the tricks and tracked child talking and smiling.

All six parents hit 90 % fidelity by week four and kept it. Kids showed small jumps in words or signs, plus more happy faces during play.

Gains were steady but modest. One child added five new words; another began waving bye-bye.

Sivaraman et al. (2020) reviewed nine global studies and found the same pattern: telehealth parent training works when you translate handouts and match families with coaches who speak their language.

Howard et al. (2023) used the same Zoom-plus-feedback setup to teach girls with Rett syndrome to tap AAC buttons for requests. Both studies hit high parent fidelity, showing the method travels across diagnoses.

Ganz et al. (2009) did parent PECS training in person back when webcams were rare. Their kids also learned new requests, proving parent power is not new—telehealth just removes the drive-time barrier.

You can run parent coaching from your office and still see solid fidelity. Schedule a weekly Zoom, use a simple checklist, and give live praise and corrections. Expect small but real communication gains plus happier kids. Start with one family on your wait-list this month and track fidelity after four sessions—if they hit 90 %, roll it out to more.