Parent Implementation of DTT Following Telehealth Instruction.
Spencer Gauert, Holly Rittenhouse-Cea, Kristen Rittenhouse-Shaw
PMID 35917019WHAT IT FOUND
Telehealth training taught three parents to deliver discrete trial training (DTT) with high accuracy, which children maintained for six weeks.
As parents improved, children’s skill acquisition increased, though one nonverbal child did not reach mastery criteria.
Key findings
01Parent implementation of DTT steps improved from a baseline mean of 49% to 97.5% during training and 99% during maintenance.
02Child skill acquisition targets increased from a baseline mean of 26% to 75% following parent training and 80% during maintenance.
03One child participant (Carter) did not meet criteria for mastery on his target, showing slower acquisition compared to the other two children.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only three parents and three children, limiting generalizability. All parents had prior familiarity with ABA principles and the trainers, which may not reflect the experience of families new to behavioral interventions. All families had access to telehealth-capable technology, potentially excluding underserved populations. One child (Carter) did not reach mastery, and his data influenced the interpretation of one parent's (Lori) fidelity scores due to dropped trial components.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating the shift to telehealth.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume all children will reach skill mastery. One nonverbal child in the study did not meet criteria for mastery despite high-fidelity parent implementation, indicating that individual learner factors significantly impact outcomes.