Teaching child-care and safety skills to parents with intellectual disabilities through self-learning

Children of parents with intellectual disabilities are at risk for neglectful care due to parenting skill deficiencies. In this study, the efficacy of self-instructional audiovisual child-care manuals was evaluated using a multiple baseline design across 10 parents. Self-instruction was effective with 9 out of 10 parents and 11 of 12 skills; skills reached percentage correct levels seen in parents without intellectual disabilities. Increased skills maintained up to 6.5 months after training, during which time observations of the trained skills were reduced. Only one parent required full training. Consumer satisfaction ratings were uniformly high. Overall, the results of this study indicate that many parents with intellectual disabilities may improve their parenting skills with low cost, low tech, self-instructional materials.