The Expectations of Parents Having Childrewith Autism From Early Intervention Programs

Abstract

There are still efforts to develop family-based or institution-based early intervention programs for autism spectrum disorder, which can be treated with intensive and continuouseducation. The early approaches regarding the education of children with autism involvedprograms in which trainers and children worked together intensively. However, programsincluding the active participation of parents have started to be developed recently. Yet,there are no studies in the literature that involve or dwell on the expectations of parents inthese programs. Hence, this study aims to reveal the expectations of parents having children with autism from early intervention programs. To this end, semi-structured interviewswere made with 15 parents. The responses were analyzed via content analysis. The studyfound that parents have different expectations regarding play, communication, interaction,behavior, and daily life skills depending on children’s development process. The data arediscussed in light of the relevant literature