Karen Bearss, PhD, a faculty member based at Seattle Children’s Hospital, is opening doors to a new clinical service at the Seattle Children’s Autism Center focused on providing access to an evidence-based training program for families raising a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The program empowers parents with skills and strategies to prevent and better manage challenging behaviors. ASD is a chronic neurodevelopmental condition characterized by social communication deficits, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. In addition to the defining features, as many as 50% of children with ASD exhibit behavioral problems, including tantrums, noncompliance, aggression, and self-injury.

The challenges parents face in raising a child with ASD has sparked interest in the use of parent training (PT) in this population, as it empowers parents to be the agent of change for their child. The Research Unit on Behavioral Interventions (RUBI) Autism Network developed a manualized parent training program specifically for families of children with ASD and co-occurring disruptive behaviors. The program utilizes techniques grounded in Applied Behavior Analysis in order to teach parents how to manage their child’s behavioral problems.

Bearss and colleagues conducted a multi-site study of the RUBI PT program, sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), in which 180 children age three to seven years with ASD and serious behavioral problems were randomly assigned to either 24 weeks of parent training or 24 weeks of parent education. Parent training provided parents with specific strategies on how to manage serious behavioral problems, while parent education offered useful information on autism. Results, published in JAMA in 2015, suggested PT was more effective in reducing disruptive and aggressive behavior and endured for up to six months post intervention.

Bearss is now using what she learned in that study to lead the new RUBI Parent Training program at Seattle Children’s, aimed at improving parental readiness to deal with the challenges of raising a child with ASD. This can include helping parents identify triggers to outbursts and providing them with practical strategies to manage serious behavioral problems. The ultimate goal is to help parents feel empowered, capable and confident when it comes to helping their child succeed with daily routines and actively participate in their communities.