Parent Mediated Autism Intervention Through a Culturally Informed Lens: Parents Taking Action and Pivotal Response Training with Latine Families

Background The prevalence of autism has increased substantially among Latine children, however, few service systems are prepared to provide culturally relevant services. Parents Taking Action (PTA), is a culturally informed parent-mediated psychoeducation program designed to meet the informational needs of Latine families of children with autism. The purpose of this study was to pilot a hybrid model of intervention by including direct parent coaching through pivotal response training (PRT) along with PTA among Latina mothers of children with autism. Methods Ten Latina mothers of children 8 and under with autism participated in this study. Mothers received PTA from two bilingual trained promotoras (community health workers). PTA included 14 2-hour psychoeducation sessions. Mothers also received 4 one-hour sessions of PRT from bilingual/bicultural coaches. Results Paired samples t-tests indicated significant increases in family outcomes, self-efficacy in using the intervention strategies, and frequency of using strategies, from pre to post-test. Conclusions This study suggests that culturally informed parent-mediated autism intervention coupled with parent coaching positively affects family outcomes among Latine families of children with autism.