Improving Access to Care for Challenging Behavior Using a Parent-to-Parent Mentoring Approach

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are more likely to engage in challenging behavior, such as aggression and self-injury, than children without ASD. If left untreated, these behaviors can increase in severity over time, causing significant stress on families. Numerous studies over the 30 years has demonstrated the efficacy of behavioral treatments for these challenging behaviors, particularly an intervention call functional communication training (FCT). Furthermore, caregivers have been able to effectively implement FCT in home settings to reduce their children’s challenging behavior. However, all caregivers to date have been trained by professionals. The waiting lists to obtain these professional services can be quite lengthy, and these services are even less accessible to ethnically diverse, low-income families due to financial and language barriers. This study will evaluate a model of training in which caregivers trained by professionals will then train other parents to implement FCT with their children in the home setting. If effective, this model has the potential to expand clinical service availability in rural, low-income communities, as well as to more diverse ethnic groups who face barriers to receiving services for their children’s challenging behavior.