Effectiveness of an online‐delivered parent‐mediated intervention for the improvement of social skills of children with autism

Bibliographic Data

ID21723115
AuthorsIssa Alkinj (0000-0001-8333-7749, Department of Educational Studies Arab Open University Amman Jordan, corresponding author), Manuela Sanches-Ferreira (0000-0002-4693-3928, Centro de Investigação e Inovação em Educação), Manuela Sanches‐Ferreira (Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administracao do Porto), Cristiana Nunes (0000-0002-1009-0519, Centro de Investigação e Inovação em Educação), Cristina Nunes (0000-0003-4667-7060, Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administracao do Porto)
Year2026
Volume26
Issue2
Publication date2026-04-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Research in Special Educational Needs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1471-3802 • E-ISSN: 1471-3802
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1471-3802.70079
OpenAlexW7134169686
LanguageEN
References cited58

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) show social communication difficulties, a common symptom alongside behavioural issues. These difficulties may affect both their social and academic inclusion when they do not receive proper support. The current study attempts to examine the effects of a parent‐mediated intervention that was delivered online to improve the social communication skills of a sample of 12 young children with ASD (intervention group = 6; control group = 6). The intervention programme consisted of 10 sessions based on multiple strategies, including social stories, 3D‐video modelling and video self‐modelling, with the use of prompting, fading and social reinforcement, targeting different social communication skills. A quasi‐experimental method was used based on pre‐ and post‐intervention assessment and follow‐up to evaluate the effects of the intervention. The results showed that participants in the intervention group showed significant improvements over the control group in sociability and speech/language/communications domains, and there was an improvement in the total Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC). Also, parents demonstrated high fidelity in the implementation and high satisfaction with the intervention programme. The limitations and future implications of the study are discussed

Autism · Autism spectrum disorder · Checklist · Fidelity · Social skills · Autism Spectrum Disorder Research · Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues · Family and Disability Support Research

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