Study: Empowering Parents Helps Kids with Autism Behave Better

A new study looked at parents of kids with Autism and found empowering those parents helps kids behave better. In fact, it works at the same rate as medications.

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – A new study suggests that doctors may want to focus on parents and not just on their patients when it comes to caring for children with autism spectrum disorder. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that parents who were taught specific behavior management skills saw a dramatic improvement in their child’s behavior.

“Seventy percent of the children in the parent training group were rated much improved or very much improved, compared to parents who were only given passive information on autism spectrum disorder,” said Luc Lecavalier, PhD, a psychologist and psychiatrist at the Nisonger Center at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “Most importantly, nearly 80 percent of these children and these families maintained their gains at the six-month follow-up,” he said.

During the study, parents took part in 11 one-on-one training sessions, and their child’s behavior was evaluated at the end of 24 weeks.

“We know that these techniques work when they’re well done by well-trained professionals. For this study, we taught the parents how to implement those strategies,” Lecavalier said.

For more on the study, click on the video box. To read the full press release, “click to read more”.

Courtesy: Ohio State Wexner Medical Center

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