Using parent/clinician partnerships in parent education programs for children with autism

Recently, many treatments for children with disabilities have shifted from a purely clinician-implemented model to one that focuses on a parent education component. In the current study, a repeated reversal design was employed to compare the effects of a parent education intervention that incorporates the principles outlined in the parent empowerment and ecocultural literature with a professional-driven model that does not incorporate these principles. The Parent/Clinician Partnership and Clinician-Directed models were compared on the following measures: (a) observed parent stress, (b) observed parent confidence, (c) observed child affect, and (d) child responsiveness and engagement. The results are discussed in terms of the implications for parent education programs and the relationships between clinical outcome and the type of parent education procedures implemented.