Effect of Parent-Mediated Pivotal Response Treatment in Improving Communication Skills of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of parent-mediated pivotal response treatment in improving the communication skills of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The research deployed an ABAB research design, ABAB was divided into 4 phases; three children with ASD who fulfilled the inclusionary criteria received pivotal response treatment from their parents. The instruments used for assessment included a social communication questionnaire, Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised, and Vineland-3 Adaptive Behavioral Scale for communication. Visual analysis, raw score, v-scale score, and standard score comparison were used to examine the intervention's effect on each participant. The result indicates that parents successfully learned the procedures of Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT), and significantly improved the communication skills of their children with ASD. This research shows that when PRT intervention is substantial for children with ASD, the parents obtain intensive training to learn techniques and deliver interventions with fidelity. Training further allows parents to improve the skills of children with ASD.