A Strength-Based Approach to Parent Education for Children with Autism

Despite the ubiquitous nature of parent education in autism treatment, relatively few studies directly address how parent education should be conducted. Given that the literature on parental well-being suggests that treatments that facilitate positive parental adaptation to their childÕs disability may be beneficial, this study examined the impact of a strength-based approach to parent education. An alternating treatments design was used to compare the effects of therapist statements that highlighted the childÕs deficits versus those that emphasized strengths. These two approaches were evaluated on the following measures: parent affect, parent statements regarding child behavior, and the quality of parentÐchild interactions. Results indicate that parents displayed improved affect, made more positive statements about their child, and also exhibited more physical affection toward their child during the strength-based approach. Findings have implications for autism programming, parental coping, and parentÐchild relationships.