The Effectiveness of Family-Centered Teaching in Developing Self-Care Skills for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Teaching of self-care skills with the participation of families at home, which is the natural environment of the child, contributes to effective and permanent results. Even though it is preferred that the family take an active part in teaching, most parents who plan to work with their children have difficulties in how they teach. The previous studies demonstrate that when adequate support is provided to parents, they can teach their children the skills they need. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a family education program developed for teaching self-care skills to individuals with autism spectrum disorder. A mother and her child with autism spectrum disorder participated in the study. The study was designed with multiple probe with probe conditions across behaviors/skills which is one of the single subject research designs. The finding demonstrates that the mother was able to teach self-care skills (hand washing, toileting, and dressing) by using the least to most prompting teaching method and following the procedure properly during the teaching period. Additionally, the mother expressed her satisfaction with the teaching sessions. The results concluded that she realized the effect and importance of the systematic and planned teaching.