Jordan Phoebe, Wallace-Watkin Carla, Tupou Jessica, Pillar Sarah, Waddington Hannah
Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
The University of Western Australia, Australia.
Autism. 2025 Mar;29(3):740-753. doi: 10.1177/13623613241287300. Epub 2024 Oct 12.
There has been considerable research into the barriers and facilitators of coaching parents of autistic children. However, little is known about parents' preferences for this approach to support provided directly by a clinician to an autistic or potentially autistic child. This study aimed to examine parents' relative preferences for parent coaching and direct clinician support. A total of 22 families who had received both approaches for their autistic child quantitatively indicated which they preferred. We then used semi-structured interviews with 11 of these participating parents to further investigate the reasons underlying these preferences. We used multiple methods to ensure trustworthiness and credibility. Four themes were identified through template analysis: (1) 'I wouldn't want one without the other', (2) 'It forced me outside my comfort zone', (3) 'It's just about different types of learners' and (4) 'If our child is happy, then we are happy'. Overall, results indicated that parents appreciated characteristics of both approaches and felt that they complimented each other in helping themselves and their child. However, when forced to choose, parents generally expressed a preference for direct support. Many parents discussed their belief that their child experienced more enjoyment and progressed further through direct support. These findings emphasise the importance of honouring families' preferences in the delivery of supports.Lay abstractProfessionals often support autistic children by working with them directly (direct support) or by coaching their parents. We know a lot about what parents think about parent coaching, but we do not know as much about what they think about direct support. We also do not know whether parents prefer parent coaching or direct support. The current study involved 22 parents who each received 2 h a week of direct support for their autistic child and up to 1 h a week of parent coaching for 6 months. At the end of 6 months, all these parents indicated in a survey whether they preferred parent coaching or direct support. Eleven of these participating parents also chose to take part in an interview to understand more about these preferences. Our findings suggest that parents generally liked both supports and believed they worked well together; however, they preferred direct support over parent coaching. While parents think that both approaches are beneficial, there are strengths and challenges of each. These findings emphasise the importance of parent choice in the delivery of support. It may also be possible to adapt both approaches to address some of the identified challenges and improve the whole family's experience.
对于指导自闭症儿童家长的障碍和促进因素，已经有了大量研究。然而，对于临床医生直接为自闭症或可能患有自闭症的儿童提供支持的这种方式，家长的偏好却知之甚少。本研究旨在考察家长对家长指导和临床医生直接支持的相对偏好。共有22个家庭为他们患有自闭症的孩子同时接受了这两种支持方式，并定量表明了他们更喜欢哪种。然后，我们对其中11位参与研究的家长进行了半结构化访谈，以进一步探究这些偏好背后的原因。我们采用多种方法来确保研究的可信度和可靠性。通过模板分析确定了四个主题：（1）“两者缺一不可”，（2）“它迫使我走出舒适区”，（3）“只是针对不同类型的学习者”，以及（4）“如果我们的孩子开心，我们就开心”。总体而言，结果表明家长欣赏这两种支持方式的特点，并认为它们在帮助自己和孩子方面相辅相成。然而，当被迫做出选择时，家长通常表示更喜欢直接支持。许多家长谈到他们相信孩子通过直接支持能获得更多乐趣并取得更大进步。这些发现强调了在提供支持时尊重家庭偏好的重要性。
摘要
专业人员通常通过直接与自闭症儿童合作（直接支持）或指导他们的家长来为自闭症儿童提供支持。我们对家长对家长指导的看法了解很多，但对他们对直接支持的看法了解较少。我们也不知道家长更喜欢家长指导还是直接支持。当前的研究涉及22位家长，他们每位每周为患有自闭症的孩子接受2小时的直接支持，并在6个月内每周接受长达1小时的家长指导。在6个月结束时，所有这些家长在一项调查中表明他们更喜欢家长指导还是直接支持。这些参与研究的家长中有11位还选择参加访谈，以更深入地了解这些偏好。我们的研究结果表明，家长通常喜欢这两种支持方式，并认为它们配合得很好；然而，他们更喜欢直接支持而非家长指导。虽然家长认为这两种方式都有益，但每种方式都有优点和挑战。这些发现强调了家长选择在提供支持中的重要性。也有可能调整这两种方式以应对一些已确定的挑战，并改善整个家庭的体验。
