Using Parents and Teachers to Monitor Progress Among Children With ASD

Abstract

Despite growing knowledge of the effectiveness of various interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), it is never clear whether a particular intervention will be effective for a specific child with ASD. Careful monitoring of an individual child’s progress is necessary to know whether an intervention is effective. In this review, we examined intervention research studies focused on children with ASD in Grades K–12 that involve parents, teachers, and other school staff as data collectors. We describe the strategies that have been used in the 40 identified research studies to monitor progress in the areas of behavior and social communication. The results highlight monitoring strategies that may be helpful for parents and teachers to apply, and the discussion provides related suggestions to guide future research and practice.