Increasing Independent Self-Care in Autistic Children through Telehealth Parent Coaching

Abstract

The present study partially replicated a study by Boutain et al. (2020) by delivering a telehealth graduated guidance intervention to two mother-son dyads to increase the independence of the autistic sons’ toothbrushing behaviours. This intervention involved remote, synchronous behavioural skills training (BST) for the mothers who implemented the intervention, starting with oral and video modelling quizzes and finishing with eight weeks of live parent coaching toothbrushing sessions. While only one mother-son dyad completed this intervention, both mothers achieved high levels of procedural fidelity, and the son who completed the intervention achieved high, stable toothbrushing independence. Meanwhile, the preliminary data of the other son showed promise. Both mothers expressed near-perfect satisfaction with the intervention.

Faculty Mentors: Miranda Macauley & Dr. Russ Powell