Parental Awareness of Empirically Established Treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorders

• Published in: Focus on autism and other developmental disabilities Vol. 31; no. 3; pp. 184 - 195
• Main Authors: Deyro, Marie C., Simon, Elliott W., Guay, Julie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.09.2016
• Subjects: parent; autism spectrum disorders; family; intervention; autism treatments; evidence-based practices
• ISSN: 1088-3576; 1538-4829
• DOI: 10.1177/1088357614559210

Through an online survey, 83 parents of individuals aged 21 and below diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) rated available ASD treatments for perceived effectiveness and scientific validity. Parental awareness of evidence-based treatments was assessed and compared with the National Standards Report (NSR). Parents were also asked to identify information sources used when selecting treatments and to rate the efficacy of treatments utilized for their children. Results showed that parents identified “professional advice” as the most influential source in helping decide which ASD treatments to utilize with their child(ren). A majority of parents agreed with the NSR for only 9 out of 26 identified treatments. There was no strong agreement among the parents with regard to their independent ratings of intervention efficacy and scientific validity. More than 35% of the parents listed interventions that were not part of the NSR consensus.