COACHES’ PERSPECTIVES ON THE BARRIERS AND FACILITATORS TO THE SOCIAL ABCS CAREGIVER-MEDIATED INTERVENTION FOR TODDLERS WITH AUTISM

Research supports the involvement of caregivers in intervention programs for young children (i.e., caregiver-mediated early intervention - CMEI) as it is thought to capitalize on natural caregiver-child interactions and to increase the child’s dosage of treatment while also providing support to families (Zwaigenbaum et al., 2015). CMEIs have been rigorously studied, with a substantial evidence-base (Frost et al., 2021; Sandbank et al., 2020). Among these, the Social ABCs stands as a well-established CMEI, designed for toddlers aged 12 to 36 months with confirmed or suspected autism spectrum disorder (ASD; Brian et al., 2016; 2017). Nevertheless, certain families encounter challenges in accessing, engaging with, and deriving benefits from the program. While much is known about families’ lived experiences, the perspectives of the clinicians delivering the programs are scarcely reported. This perspective has potential to shed light on families who do not complete the program, a key perspective that is usually missed. The purpose of this study was to describe the barriers and facilitators to the Social ABCs from the perspectives of the clinicians delivering the program (known as ‘coaches’).

Department dc:contributor.department

Applied Psychology and Human Development

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Dowds, Erin

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Brian, Jessica A

• Autism
• Behaviour
• Caregiver-mediated
• Coaching
• Early Intervention
• Mixed-Methods

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1807/140256

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:utoronto.scholaris.ca:1807/140256