Abstract
There is a bidirectional relationship between parental stress and the problem behaviors of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Konstantares & Homatidis, 1989; Shawler & Sullivan, 2015; Osborne, McHugh, Saunders, & Reed, 2007). One way to reduce and prevent parental stress affecting a child’s developmental progress is to teach parents how to address their children’s’ problem behaviors (Kuravackel, Ruble, Reese, Ables, Rodgers & Toland, 2017). An effective intervention used with individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder is Functional Communication Training (FCT). FCT is an intervention that is used to teach an appropriate form of communication in order to reduce and replace problem behavior. The current study examined the associations between parental perceptions of FCT, amount of use of FCT and parental stress. The sample consisted of 15 mothers and 2 fathers of children with ASD who belong to parent and family support networks and/or have children that are currently receiving ABA therapy. A link to an anonymous online survey was distributed to companies that provide services to individuals with ASD. The survey was also sent to parent support groups for parents with children with ASD. The current study revealed a positive association between confidence in implementing the intervention and parental perceptions towards the improvements FCT had on their child’s developmental progress. There were also positive associations for both parents’ perceptions on improvement and confidence related to using FCT for each function of problem behavior (escape, access, and attention), and a positive association between the child’s therapy program using FCT and the parent using FCT in the home setting. The results from this study indicate that parent’s level of confidence in implementing FCT, their perceptions towards implementing FCT with their child and the effectiveness of FCT all positively relate to using FCT to reduce problem behaviors.