National Autism Conference 2019

The importance of the direct involvement of parents in the education of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been widely recognized (e.g. National Autism Center, 2009; National Research Council, 2001). Project ImPACT (Ingersoll and Dvortcsak, 2010) is an evidenced-based, parent-training curriculum that has been used to improve children with ASD’s social communication skills. Evaluation of this program has revealed that parents increased their knowledge of the intervention techniques (Ingersoll and Dvortcsak 2006; Ingersoll and Wainer 2011), improved accuracy of implementation of the intervention techniques (Ingersoll and Wainer, 2011), were highly satisfied with the program (Ingersoll and Dvortcsak 2006; Ingersoll and Wainer 2011), and ascribed gains in their child’s social communication skills directly to the program (Ingersoll and Dvortcsak 2006; Ingersoll and Wainer,2011). Child measures revealed an increase in language use (Ingersoll and Wainer, 2011). Teachers reported that participating parents’ ability to utilize techniques and the child’s social communication skills improved because of the program (Ingersoll and Dvortcsak 2006; Ingersoll and Wainer 2011). Topics will include the following: the importance of parent training as part of the intervention for children with ASD; overview of Project ImPACT; parent-mediated intervention model based on best practices; successful elements of PMI; intervention targets and social communication skills; naturalistic development behavioral intervention; and, preparation for Project ImPACT. Credits: Act 48, SW, Psych, PT, OT, BACB, INFANT, ASHA