A virtuous circle: Stakeholder perspectives of a short-term intensive parent training programme delivered within the context of routine services for autism in China.
Zuyi Fang, Jamie M Lachman, Cheng Zhang and 2 others
PMID 35068174WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers valued autism knowledge and hands-on practice but found the 11-week programme too short to build confidence.
They requested structured childcare, family training and ongoing support. Practitioners reported high stress and insufficient supervision despite delivering the content with high fidelity.
Key findings
01Caregivers identified behaviour management, visual supports and daily routines as the most useful skills, but felt the programme was too short to master them.
02Having children present in sessions was a double-edged sword: it allowed for live practice but distracted caregivers, who asked for separate structured activities.
03Practitioners experienced high fidelity in delivering content but medium quality of delivery, citing heavy workload and a lack of formal supervision as key barriers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study lacked male caregiver participants, limiting insights into their experiences. Data were collected retrospectively, which may introduce recall bias. Interviews were conducted in Chinese and translated, potentially introducing bias. Participants were selected based on engagement levels, but attendance was generally high, limiting the range of low-engagement perspectives. Stakeholder involvement was limited to organisation staff, excluding wider community or family beneficiary input in the research design.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. Funding for one author was provided by the Swire Charitable Trust and the Medical Research Council UK/Chief Scientist Office. The implementing organisation was involved in planning and recruitment but not in data collection or analysis.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the caregivers' reported improvements in child behaviour and parental mental health as evidence of the programme's efficacy. These are subjective perceptions from a qualitative study without a control group, and the quantitative outcomes were under review at the time of publication.