Empowering Fathers: Effectiveness of Brief PRT Training for Bilingual Families of Libyan American Children with Autism to Enhance Communication Skills.

Parent-mediated interventions are becoming essential in addressing the communication challenges faced by children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This study evaluated the effectiveness of a brief, structured 6-h father training program in Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) for increasing social functional utterances (SFUs) in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study explored whether bilingual fathers (Arabic and English) could implement PRT motivational techniques with fidelity and how these techniques influenced their children's communication outcomes.A single-case multiple baseline design was employed with three father-child dyads. Fathers received structured PRT training and applied learned motivational strategies during interactive play sessions at home over an 8-week period. Father fidelity and child SFU frequency were assessed using systematic observation and interobserver agreement measures. All fathers demonstrated increased fidelity in implementing PRT motivational techniques (ranging from 12.77 to 19.14 instances per session). Correspondingly, children exhibited significant improvements in SFUs, with increases from baseline to intervention sessions (ranging from 3.55 to 6.5 SFUs per session). Social validity measures indicated high parental satisfaction, with fathers reporting enhanced engagement and improved parent-child interactions. Findings support the efficacy of brief father training in PRT for improving child social communication skills. The study underscores the importance of father-mediated interventions and highlights cultural considerations in PRT implementation. Future research should explore the long-term impact of brief PRT training across diverse populations and intervention settings.