Parent perspectives on sources of information about autism spectrum disorder interventions in Australia

Extant research on sources of information about interventions used by parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has provided a general overview of sources used. However, it has provided little insight into why parents view certain sources as reliable or trustworthy, or how useful parents found the information provided to them by the sources and why. This paper provides a qualitative analysis of interviews conducted with 12 Australian parents of preschool-age children with ASD. Participants discussed the factors related to their perceptions of the reliability and trustworthiness of sources used, as well as the usefulness of the information provided. Parent ratings of the reliability of sources were influenced by factors including the firsthand experience of other parents, the parent's relationship with the source, and their beliefs about the sources' intentions. A number of parents reported that sources provided either information of limited use or an overwhelming amount of information. Considerable variation was reported in the usefulness of information provided to parents. Recommendations regarding research and practice are offered.15 page(s