Teaching parents to promote language use of children with autism spectrum disorders within family routines using enhanced milieu teaching

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often do not acquire language naturally within ecological systems (i.e., parent-child interaction in daily routines); therefore some of these children have significant delays in social communication skills. Language interventions such as discrete-trial teaching procedures, the verbal behavior approach, and naturalistic language teaching approaches have been developed to improve language use among children with ASD. However, few research studies have examined the generalization and maintenance effects of language intervention implemented by parents on child’s communication skills across natural family routines. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a language intervention model that synthesizes three theoretical frameworks, enhanced milieu language teaching (EMT), general case programming principles, and the activity setting (i.e., daily or weekly routine) as a unit of analysis and intervention for promoting generalized language use by young children with ASD. The study employed an empirical case study design with one parent-child dyad. Parent training was presented in a two-day workshop. Results showed improvements in parent use of EMT and in child use of language in indirectly trained and non-trained (i.e., generalization) family routines in the home. These improvements maintained at one and two months post-intervention. The results are discussed with reference to previous research, contributes, future directions, and implications for practitioners and researchers who are involved in language promotion interventions.Education, Faculty ofEducational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department ofGraduat