"What If I Try This?" Caregiver Selection of Interventions for Their Child With Autism

• In Event: Social-Cognitive Aspects of Autism

Abstract

Caregivers of children with autism often trial a wide variety of interventions. Our purpose was to understand what interventions caregivers select and the diversity of influences on their treatment selection. Caregivers completed an online survey (N=127) and a purposefully selected subset were interviewed (n=14) in a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach. We describe intervention selection frequency across medical, dietary, therapy, complimentary/alternative medicine, community-based, behavioral, and educational categories. We describe how many interventions were utilized per child, why caregivers selected and discontinued those interventions, and similarities/differences across level of diagnosis and common comorbidities. The interventions children with autism experience and their caregiver’s perspectives on intervention selection have important implications for teachers, paraprofessionals, and other school personnel.

Authors

• Amy Kurowski-Burt, West Virginia University

• Reagan Curtis, West Virginia University