Empowering parents as advocates and decision-makers for their children with autism spectrum disorder

A growing number of parents report feeling frustrated and disempowered in decision-making processes regarding their child’s education. Parent participation in goal setting and education planning is critical to the success of... [ view full abstract ]

A growing number of parents report feeling frustrated and disempowered in decision-making processes regarding their child’s education. Parent participation in goal setting and education planning is critical to the success of education plans and programs, but little research has focused on helping parents develop self-efficacy in this area. The following project was conducted in order to give parents information and support to enable them to more effectively engage with schools and service providers to advocate for effective programs for their children with ASD. Parents were taught how to utilise the Cycle of Learning framework to facilitate their child’s self-determination and to work with their child to develop a vision and plan for their child’s education. They then received support to negotiate with their child’s school to implement evidence-based strategies that would enable their child to achieve their vision and goals within the context of school programs.

Approximately 150 parents participated in workshops in which they received training on the Cycle of Learning framework, evidence-based practice for students with ASD in school settings, and strategies to advocate for their child. Following the workshop, parents were provided with support via an online platform to work with their child and their child’s school. Parents reported they were able to utilise the Cycle of Learning framework to increase their self-efficacy as advocates for their children and to enable them to foster their child’s self-awareness and self-determination to set goals for themselves and develop plans to meet these goals. They felt they needed ongoing support, however, to deal with the ongoing and changing challenges faced by their children at school.

This research received full ethics approval from Griffith University and was conducted within ethics guidelines. Participants were recruited through advertisements placed on the university and other relevant websites. Full... [ view full abstract ]

This research received full ethics approval from Griffith University and was conducted within ethics guidelines. Participants were recruited through advertisements placed on the university and other relevant websites. Full consent for participation and publication was obtained from all participants. In addition, member checking was conducted and participants were consulted to provide feedback about the findings from this study.

No external funding or contributed support from any organisations were provided for this research. Therefore, there is no potential conflict of interest for this research.