Principal Investigator(s):
Renming Liu
Grant Type:
Graduate Research
Funding:
1,999
Organization:
Baylor University
Year Awarded:
2024
Status:
In Progress
Location:
Waco, TX
Topics:
Education and School Aged Children
Abstract
Daily living skills reflect individuals’ self-sufficiency and autonomy. However, children with autism often lack independence in daily living skills which limit their ability to lead an autonomous life. There are many benefits of teaching caregivers to implement daily living skills interventions, including promoting maintenance and generalization across the wide variety of settings in which caregivers support their children. Caregiver AID (Assisting development of Independent Daily living skills) will explore an approach to equipping caregivers with the tools necessary to support the development of their child’s independent daily functioning. The proposed project will evaluate the effectiveness of caregiver training programs to teach caregivers to develop an individualized structured work system and implement the system in the home. Subsequently, the study will evaluate the impact of caregiver-implemented a structured work systems intervention package on improving their children’s daily living skills. In order to achieves these goals, five children with autism between five to 12 years old and their caregivers be recruited in this project. The research methodology encompasses three experiments: Experiment 1 will use pre- and post- tests to evaluate the effectiveness of a caregiver training package on improving caregiver’s ability to develop an individualized structured work system. Experiment 2 will evaluate a functional relation between a caregiver coaching package and caregiver’s implementing fidelity of structured work system. Experiment 3 will evaluate a functional relation between caregiver-implemented structured work system and the child’s performance of daily living skill. The findings of this project are expected to offer practical, replicable strategies for caregivers and professionals, guiding the development of tailored interventions for children with autism and underscoring a shift towards inclusive, family-centered intervention approach.
