Internet-Based Parent-Implemented Communication Strategies: Remote Delivery of Social Communication Interventions

Background: High-quality early intervention programs are characterized by services that are developmentally appropriate, evidence-based, and delivered by parents and therapists in the child’s natural environment. However, there are significant challenges to providing services with needed dosage or intensity to families with young children with autism and other developmental disabilities (DD). Barriers include the time and cost demands of traveling from one home to the next; limited financial resources to support this work; and situational barriers (e.g., serving families in rural areas; serving families living in neighborhoods providers perceive as unsafe; serving transient families). Innovative solutions are needed to positively impact the early development of young children with autism and other DD by providing greater access to research-based interventions.

Objectives: The i-PiCS (Internet-Based Parent-implemented Communication Strategies) program aims to teach and coach parents, via telepractice, to use evidence-based strategies with their young children to promote their social-communication skills.

Methods: The i-PiCS program includes online self-paced modules that are: (a) interactive, rather than delivered as a simple training video or webinar; (b) asynchronous, allowing parents to complete each module at a time, location, and pace that works best for them; and (c) aligned with adult-learning theory. These asynchronous modules are followed by synchronous embedded coaching provided in real time via videoconference, telepractice, to ensure that participants both master the target skills and feel confident in their application in naturally occurring contexts.

Results: Evaluation of the i-PiCS program has included multiple-baseline single-case experimental studies, and the findings are very promising. The parents have acquired the evidence-based strategies, have implemented them with high fidelity, are satisfied with the telepractice service delivery model, and their children’s social-communication skills have improved. In addition, the telepractice program was used to teach and coach early intervention service providers to use the i-PiCS program with families on their caseload. Long terms goals include valuating the i-PiCS program with a larger number of families to assess its effectiveness at a larger scale.